Issue

As we enter the second half of 2008, the sedate long-term growth pattern of the semiconductor industry continues.

In a slowing economy, everyone looks for signs of hope for a strong future. Unfortunately at times like these, funding for R&D often takes a back seat to the basic needs of a company to conduct commerce and basically stay in business by doing the same things in the same way just to keep pace.

The line in the sand is slowly being washed away. At this year’s SEMICON West, it was hard to tell the difference between the front-end and back-end players.

FORT WASHINGTON PA — In a strategic move to further capitalize on its strengths as an equipment manufacturer, Kulicke & Soffa Industries announced that the company will acquire the assets of Orthodyne Electronics Corp, while also divesting its wire business unit to W.C. Heraeus GmbH.

STUTTGART, GERMANY — Shifting away from focus on 3D IC and TSV processes, this year’s Advanced Packaging Conference, at SEMICON Europa, titled “Technologies, Manufacturing And Supply Chain”, will focus on more immediate issues facing the back-end sector of the semiconductor industries.

During SEMICON West, we arranged to interview as many technology leaders as possible through short video coverage — conversations really.

Emerging micro-bump wafers present unique challenges for measurement and inspection.

Power dissipation and small packages are creating heat fluxes that must be addressed at either the package or system level. Designers face such challenges as thermal management as a gating factor and integration of small dies in larger packages. Contact and spreading resistance are mitigating factors for design success.

Without underfill materials, many of today’s advances in packaging technologies wouldn’s be possible. A novel material system called epoxy flux combines a flux component with an epoxy system that facilitates solder joint formation while adding devide protection for increased process efficiency.

Thin, strong chips are assembled in chip packages; not bonded wafers. Therefore, die singulation must be considered from the start. Remote cold dry etching technology allows for the manufacturing of strong silicon chips in terms of highest possible mechanical properties and bending capability.