Issue

Toward the end of August, the investment community was speculating that another downturn or inventory adjustment was upon us.

The financial reports for the major assembly and test subcontractors were quite positive in the first quarter of 2004, but those numbers don't tell the whole story.

Chronically implantable retinal prostheses currently are under development to restore useful vision to blind patients with degenerative retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

Those involved in the packaging industry are quite familiar with two key technology drivers: Moore's Law (which dictates that the number of transistors will double in an IC every 24 months), and the increasing need to pack more capability (MIPs, Mbytes, GB/sec) into less space.

It's difficult to tell from industry statistics just where the electronics industry is heading, but the shifts and changes in personnel and real estate are more telling than the numbers.

The electronic package might appear to be just a tiny black container for holding the chip, but it really is a sophisticated system when we consider the tasks to be accomplished, and under extreme conditions.

ACHIEVING HIGH DENSITY PACKAGING AND INTERCONNECT

Designed for Biomedical Applications

A PHYSICAL COMPARISON OF SINGLE- AND DUAL-GATE LOGIC

ADVANCES IN SPRING PROBE TECHNOLOGY DECREASE COST OF TEST SOCKET DESIGN