Category Archives: Materials and Equipment

July 9, 2008 — Arrowhead Research Corporation has formed Agonn Systems Corporation to explore, develop and commercialize nanotechnology-based energy storage devices for electric vehicles and other large format applications. Agonn has initiated a strategy to acquire energy storage technologies based on nanoscale engineering from research institutions and expects to begin prototyping ultracapacitors based on carbon nanotubes and other advanced materials this year. The formation of Agonn Systems is part of a strategy at Arrowhead to leverage nanotechnology for clean energy applications.
“We implemented a similar roll up of intellectual property, device design, and manufacturing capability to build our majority-owned subsidiary Unidym into a leader in the application of carbon nanotubes for electronics,” says Arrowhead CEO Chris Anzalone. “We intend to replicate this strategy in the field of nanotech-based energy storage devices.”
Arrowhead has established for Agonn a team of scientific advisors pioneering nanotechnology-based energy storage, including:

  • Alan Gotcher, Ph.D., former CEO, Altair Nanotechnologies Inc, and former Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Manufacturing at Avery Dennison.
  • Joel Schindall, Ph.D., the Bernard Gordon Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Associate Director of the Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems (LEES) at MIT
  • Jud Ready, Ph.D., Senior Research Engineer and Adjunct Professor, Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)
  • Satish Kumar, Ph.D., Professor of Textile and Fiber Engineering at Georgia Tech
  • Prashant N. Kumta, Ph.D., Edward R. Weidlein Chair Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering

July 3, 2008 – The overall market for electronic design automation (EDA) declined 1.2% in 1Q08 to about $1.35B from a year ago but was up 5.9% sequentially, and the IC physical design/verification sector showed mix results, according to data from the EDA Consortium.

IC design/verification, the second largest slice of total EDA (~24% of the market, behind CAE’s ~40%), saw sales decrease 9.1% year-on-year in 1Q to $325M, though the four-quarter moving average (comparing the most recent four quarters vs. the same four quarters a year ago) rose 6.7%, better than the overall market. “Weakness in the large EDA companies was partly offset by strength in startups, with resulting numbers that were slightly down year over year,” said EDA Consortium chairman Wally Rhines, who also serves as Mentor Graphics’ top exec. He cited main areas of strength in ESL design, design-for-manufacturing (DFM) and design-for-test (DFT), IC layout verification, IC/ASIC power analysis, and RF/ mixed-signal design.

Printed circuit board and multichip module revenues also decreased Y-Y in 1Q08 (-1.4% to $131.1M), and were also down vs. the four-month moving average (-4.7%). Semiconductor IP sales increased both Y-Y (1.7%) and via the moving average (1.2%).

By region, top purchaser North America suffered an 8.2% decline in 1Q08 to $271.4M, with the four-month average down slightly (0.8%). Western Europe enjoyed the best quarterly growth vs. a year ago (13.5%, to $268.7M), while Rest-of-World saw the four-month average rise almost 20%.

The BONDJET BJ820, from Hesse & Knipps, is a high-speed, fully automatic wedge bonder for both high-speed round wire and deep access ribbon and wire bonding. It handles all challenging fine pitch wire bonding applications in a single platform &#151 including RF and microwave devices, COB, MCM and hybrids, fiber optics and automotive &#151 using aluminum or gold wire or ribbon. It reportedly offers bond speeds up to 7 wires-per-second.

With axis repeatability of 1&#181m at a balanced encoder resolution of 20 nm, the BONDJET BJ820 provides increased process stability for reportedly reliable bonding of extremely small bond pads with a larger wire diameter. A 12″ x 16.1″ work area can double as two or more smaller stations to accommodate smaller products or substrates. Additionally, its 720 x 1250 mm footprint allows for easy integration into existing floor plan configurations or new concepts. Other capabilities include:

  • 12.5 &#181m to 85 &#181m diameter wire bonding.
  • Ribbon bonding from 6 x 35&#181m to 25 x 250 &#181m.
  • Constant loop height and wire length.
  • Maintains parallel loops within mixed reference system.
  • Auto-teach for linear applications, reducing programming time.

    The BONDJET BJ820 will be showcased at SEMICON West. Booth 7357, West Hall Level 1.
    Hesse & Knipps Paderborn, Germany www.hesse-knipps.com

    • (July 1, 2008) IRVINE, CA. &#151 To promote electronics material advancement in the burgeoning China region, Henkel and Shanghai University, in conjunction with several leading research universities, entered into an agreement to form a Shanghai Region Joint Electronics Research and Failure Analysis Center. The official signing ceremony marking the commencement of the partnership took place on June 10, 2008 at Henkel Asia-Pacific and China headquarters in Shanghai, China.

    “Much of Henkel’s growth and that of the advanced electronics industry is due to strategic partnerships with educational institutions,” said Dr. Horst Eierdanz, corporate VP, Henkel R&D engineering adhesives, in his opening address at the agreement signing. “One-third of Henkel’s Shanghai-based 150-person research and engineering team is dedicated solely to technology development activities and over 3% of our R&D expenditure is earmarked for cooperative efforts with universities and technology institutions.”

    The joint center targets five key areas of research to be carried out at various universities. The fields of study include interfacial bonding mechanisms between metals and organic polymers, new latent curing systems for advanced electronics polymer applications, fundamental studies of the rheological behavior of microelectronic assembly materials, nanocomposite microelectronic packaging materials, and advanced microelectronic thermal solutions.

    The roadmap of the three-year project is under the project management and executive committee leadership of Michael Todd, Ph.D., Henkel VP of product development and engineering; Tim Chen, Ph.D., Henkel Electronics GM of China and Hong Kong; Tom Lim, Ph.D., director of Shanghai R&D Center of Henkel Corporate Research; and Professor Johan Liu, Shanghai University, China; and Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden; as well as the on-site supervision of Xinyu Du, Ph.D., R&D manager of Henkel Huawei and Daniel Lu, Ph.D., Henkel senior technical manager of product development and engineering.

    The duration of the Shanghai Region Joint Electronics Research and Failure Analysis Center project is currently scheduled from April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2011. For more information, visit www.henkel.com/electronics.

    By Gail Flower, editor-in-chief

    In one of the most beautiful areas imaginable in the Pacific Northwest amidst flowers and greenery, two companies do leading-edge research and development work that affects how electronics work. As packages grow in functionality and performance densities increase, temperature goes up. Honeywell Electronic Materials provides materials for thermal management from a chemical, materials science, and metallurgical point of view. Its facility specializes in thermal interface materials including those that go between the die and heatsink as TIM 1, between heat spreader and heatsink as TIM2, C4 underbump metallurgy, die attach, preforms, low alpha and lead-free offerings, and metallization of die backsides with indium.

    Mentor Graphics also deals with issues of increased functionality and performance with a decrease in cycle time, but their approach is one of systems design. For both advanced package and PCB design, engineers at the company do library and design data management for electrical design, PCB layout, and manufacturing optimization. In high-density interconnects, microvias, embedded passives as well as actives, wire bonds, flip chips, stacked die, and integrated RF, Mentor engineers work out both package and PCB design.

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    We visited Honeywell Electronic Materials in their Spokane, WA location. We toured their R&D center and talked about their thermal management and electrical interconnect products. (L-R) Andy Delano, Ph.D., R&D manager, advanced thermal and thermal interface materials, interconnect packaging solutions; Scott Miller, product line manager, interconnect packaging solutions; Patrick Underwood, R&D Manager; heat spreaders, interconnect packaging solutions; Devesh Mathur, Ph.D., R&D director, interconnect packaging solutions, and Gail Flower, editor-in-chief, Advanced Packaging magazine.

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    Bruce McAlary, Shannon Carrier, Gail Flower, Pat Carrier, Ayuekanbe Atagabe, David Wiens, director of business development for Mentor’s Systems Design Division; Weston Beal, corporate applications engineer; Marty Fouch, customer support manager; Steve Weiner, Rob Yoder (back), Neil Fernandes (front), Matt Killinger, and Min Manug — all corporate application engineers in Mentor’s Customer Support Division.

    Honeywell Electronic Materials, Spokane, WA

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    Miller points out some of the many assembly materials that Honeywell contributes to the packaging area from thermal interface films, to die attach, preforms to heat spreaders in diverse formats.

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    The air flow test chamber draws air across a package to see how the heat is dissipated, Delano explains.

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    Rick Townsend and Dave Steele do thermal impedance testing to see how materials work.

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    Organic polymers with metal fillers are produced in film form.

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    These singulated tapes with release tabs enhance a heat sink’s cooling ability. They are shown in a release test.

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    The R&D lab at Honeywell tests material performance.

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    Many of the thermal interface materials for TIM 1 and 2, solders, performs, burn-in materials, are produced as polymers with metals and distributed through rolling mills.

    Mentor Graphics, Wilsonville, OR

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    Gail Flower in the entrance to Mentor Graphics.

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    Suzanne Graham, senior public relations manager, Mentor Graphics Corporation and Wayne Wiggins, manager, West Coast, Advanced Packaging magazine gather in front of original Northwest art in the lobby.

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    Marty Fouch (left) and Neil Fernandes (right) viewing a HyperLynx BoardSim simulation.

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    Shannon Carrier (left) and Steve Weiner (right) viewing a Design Architect schematic (right) and a Board Station RE circuit board (left).

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    A gazebo on the pond of the Mentor campus offers a quiet setting for employees to enjoy in a relaxed atmosphere.

    June 27, 2008 — The Chair of Display Technology, Universitaet Stuttgart , and Nano-Proprietary, Inc.’s. subsidiary Applied Nanotech, Inc. (ANI) have achieved significant advancement in the application of carbon nanotubes for the flexible electronics industry.

    ANI has been performing research and development in collaboration with the Chair of Display Technology, Universitaet Stuttgart to develop high performance carbon nanotube thin film transistors (TFTs) suitable for use in the flexible electronics industry.

    These devices are at the core of displays, electronic circuits, sensors, memory chips, and other applications that are transitioning from rigid substrates, such as silicon and glass, to flexible substrates. ANI and the Universitaet Stuttgart have worked together to increase the fabrication yield of carbon nanotube TFTs using ANI’s proprietary printing-like method of carbon nanotube deposition. The TFTs exceed an on/off ratio of five orders of magnitude and achieve the electron mobility necessary for their utilization for low temperature plastic-based substrates.

    At the last Society for Information Display (SID) International Symposium, held in May 2008, the Chair of Display Technology of Universitaet Stuttgart presented the world’s first full color active matrix LCD where ITO as transparent conductive film (TCF) was completely replaced by random carbon nanotube (CNTs) networks. The display has a qVGA resolution (320xRGBx240) at 4 inch diagonal. The CNT networks are deposited by spray coating from suspension, which replaces a costly vacuum process.

    This demonstrates for the first time the applicability of CNTs as TCF in a state-of-the-art amorphous silicon active matrix process. It also gives a great perspective for future flexible displays, since CNT networks are much more reliable in flexible applications than the amorphous ITO. The complete display, including AM-backplane, color filters, and a dedicated addressing system was developed designed and fabricated at the Universitaet of Stuttgart.

    “The collaboration with the Universitaet Stuttgart is very productive. Their expertise and facilities for microelectronic processes are well-known and are very suitable for our need to transition from an idea to a proof of concept,” says Dr. Zvi Yaniv, chief executive officer of Applied Nanotech.

    “Our cooperation with Applied Nanotech, Inc. is an excellent and very positive experience. Their extensive CNT TFT process know how was instrumental for kick-starting the CNT TFT work in our lab, which is an ideal extension of our pre-existing CNT-TCF efforts.” says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Norbert Fruehauf, Chair of Display Technology University of Stuttgart.

    (June 26, 2008) CARY, NC &#151 LORD Corporation, supplier of thermal management materials, adhesives, coatings and encapsulants to the electronics industry, will embark on a $2.5 million renovation to its electronic materials labs in Cary, N.C. The expansion is intended to allow the company to add capabilities for technology development, such as individual package device reliability testing, said John Hill, technology manager for LORD’s electronic boards and components industry group.

    According to Hill, ss part of the expansion plan, LORD consolidated labs previously located in Elverson, PA and Indianapolis, IN with their Cary location. The expansion will include roughly 7500 square feet of new or refurbished lab space and more than $600,000 in newly installed instruments and equipment. Examples of new instruments include a Sonix fusion scanning acoustic microscope, Yestech YTX 3000 x-ray, and a Keyence 5000X digital microscope.

    LORD has specialized in chemicals for the electronics marketplace since 1961, explained Hill, and has distinguished itself for chemical flexibility and system design. “By consolidating our operations and expanding our tools and development space, we’ll be able to leverage all of our resources and provide more rapid solution development from specialty resin synthesis through custom process design.” said Hill.
    According to a company statement. the expansion includes purchase of the latest Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tools to accelerate the development of new products. FEA modelling provides a better understanding of how a product will perform before the final package is constructed, noted Dave Zoba, staff scientist, electronic materials research, LORD.

    The consolidation and new equipment will allow LORD to meet the industry’s need of increasing performance standards, explained George Sears, electronic materials, product development manager, LORD.
    “This enormous commitment of people, space, equipment and resources will result in better synthesis of raw materials and cellular analysis,” said Sears. “LORD does not offer one-size fits all solutions. Rather, we provide unique, value-added solutions to customers’ requirements.”

    June 26, 2008 — Cambridge NanoTech, a supplier of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) systems for research and industry, announced the shipment of its 100th ALD System to the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) . in Mumbai, India. The Savannah S100 will be used for making nano-electric devices, such as depositing the gate dielectric for nanowire transistors and also for coating mesoporous structures.
    “We decided to buy the Savannah system over many other options because of the outstanding technical support that the Cambridge NanoTech team is known for, plus the flexibility to try new ideas and material systems,” says Dr. Mandar Deshmukh, of the department of condensed matter physics and materials science. “In addition, the Savannah has been proven to work well in a multi-user laboratory research environment and offered great value. It also helped that I knew of the work that Dr. Becker did at Harvard before the company was founded.”
    “This represents a significant milestone for us,” says Dr. Jill Becker, founder, Cambridge NanoTech. “Not only is it our hundredth system shipment, but also our first system shipped to India. Our business has grown consistently since our inception. We have recently added several key technologists to our team and have expanded our global customer service network to support our burgeoning business. This work at TIFR is indicative of the type of groundbreaking research ALD is enabling worldwide.”

    June 25, 2008 — Mool Gupta, a professor in the U.Va. School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Charles L. Brown Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Harry Dorn, a professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Chemistry, have teamed up to offer a long distance cross-university team teaching course.

    Addressing the need for more accessible introductory curricula into the study of nanoscale carbon materials.

    The 142 miles between Virginia Tech and University of Virginia were not a deterrent as the two began a distance-teaching course that involved 23 students in nine different locations in Virginia, Maryland and New York.

    Connected through real-time interactive video conferencing, students were able to listen to lectures and interact as a class, despite their separate locations.
    Dorn brought his intimate knowledge of fullerenes, the molecular building blocks of nanocarbon materials, to the table and Gupta brought expertise in the creation of carbon nanotubes and devices for technology such as photovoltaic energy cells.

    “There are a few books for nanocarbon materials, but not effective introductory books,” Gupta says. “Here was an opportunity for team-teaching – for breaking new ground in introducing these concepts.”
    “This course provides students with access to knowledge about the field that would otherwise not be available,” adds James Groves, assistant dean for research and outreach at U.Va.’s Engineering School. “Without distance learning technology, it would not be possible to connect professors Gupta and Dorn to each other and to a distributed group of students. Through this course and the related distance learning initiative, we are making experts in nanotechnology available to many students around the Commonwealth who would otherwise not have such access.”
    Thanks to a $600,000 Virginia Partnership for Nanotechnology Education and Workforce Development Grant from the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for Innovation Program, an ongoing $150,000 per year award from the Virginia General Assembly, and the coordinating support of the Commonwealth Graduate Engineering Program, the class was offered to university students across Virginia, as well as to non-traditional students working in government and the private sector. In addition to students from University of Virginia and Virginia Tech, students attended the class from distance learning facilities at the College of William and Mary, Virginia Commonwealth University, the National Institute of Aerospace in Hampton, Va., the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va.. and General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y.
    At the end of a semester, complete with class presentations on the latest research in the field and demonstrations via video conference, students from each location traveled in person to Virginia Tech to synthesize nanocarbon materials in the lab. The next day, they transported the materials to the University of Virginia to build and test a functioning photovoltaic energy device.
    Rama Rajan, who recently graduated with a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech, believes the novel subject matter and its interdisciplinary nature made for a rewarding student experience.
    “It was a very interesting experience for me as I had no idea about the nanocarbon field before I took this course,” she says. “The extent of research, advancement and the potential applications totally amazed me. I really liked the interdisciplinary efforts that were popping up everywhere. It is wonderful to see people working together toward a common goal.”
    Maria Rodriguez, who is pursuing her master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering at U.Va. as part of the Commonwealth Graduate Engineering Program, took the distance learning course from the U.Va. Northern Virginia Continuing Education Center in Falls Church. Despite the travel time and distance, she was glad to make the trip to both Virginia Tech and U.Va. to apply her knowledge in the lab.
    “Certainly and without a doubt, the laboratory sessions at Virginia Tech and U.Va. were the most rewarding part of the class.” Rodriguez says. “This gave us the opportunity to have a hands-on experience and make the connection between the theory and concepts and the real device and chemical synthesis.”
    While the athletic rivalry between U.Va. and Virginia Tech remains healthy, this class has shown that academia is fertile ground for a meeting of the minds. Team-teaching and distance-learning are not only benefiting students at both of these universities, but also a diverse group of students from throughout the Commonwealth and beyond.
    “It’s vital that we collaborate in the Commonwealth,” Gupta says. “We are competing academically with institutions throughout the U.S. and around the world. Coming together for research and education will help us to be more competitive, win research grants and move research forward to make a positive impact on our society.”

    June 24, 2008 — Gaining momentum from recent orders and installations,sp3 Diamond Technologies, Inc., a supplier of diamond film products, equipment and services, has received two new orders for its Model 650 hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) diamond reactor, including one from the India Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, which will install one system as part of the expansion of its Nano Functional Materials Technology Centre (NFMTC).
    sp3’s Model 650 hot filament CVD diamond deposition reactor enables cost-effective, large area deposition of high quality, polycrystalline diamond films with a thickness of between 100 nanometers and 50 microns, on a wide variety of substrate materials. The chemical vapor deposition technology is ideal for applications such as diamond on wafers in sizes up to 300 mm, wear coatings, substrates for thermal management, amorphous silicon deposition for solar cells and other products, electrodes for water treatment and electrochemistry, passivation layers for semiconductor chucks, as well as cutting tools.
    “These orders, along with the Heriot-Watt installation at the end of last year, highlight the increasing interest not only in the material itself, but also in a product capable of delivering large scale and cost-effective thin-film diamond deposition,” says Dwain Aidala, president and COO of sp3. “The Model 650 is the only tool with this capability and, as such, leads the industry in providing CVD diamond to a growing number of market segments worldwide.”
    IIT Madras selected sp3’s Model 650 to explore CVD diamond’s ability to improve the wear resistance of the drawing dies that are used by the Murugappa group of Industries.
    “Nanocrystalline diamond films are considered to be the best candidates for wear resistant and other tribological coating applications because of its high hardness and low friction coefficient, combined with high thermal conductivity,” said Prof. M.S.R. Rao of IIT Madras. “Hot filament CVD ensures high uniformity over large areas for planar and non-planar surfaces. Nanocrystalline diamond-coated tungsten carbide dies can increase their lifetime by a factor of 10-15 times.”
    In addition to the industrial application for drawing dies, the research group of Professor M.S.R. Rao at IIT Madras will perform fundamental research on nanocrystalline diamond, especially in the emerging areas of nanoscale properties such as superconductivity and thermal conductivity.
    “In the past, diamond’s obvious benefits have been outweighed by prohibitive cost and the restricted ability to make and deposit thin-film diamond over a large area,” says Prof. M.S.R. Rao. “sp3’s Model 650 overcomes both of these factors to the extent that diamond is a commercially viable material for multiple applications.”
    The Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, is the main source of funding (78.8 percent) for the establishment of NFMTC at IIT Madras. Two Chennai-based industries contribute to the rest of the funding to make this venture possible: Murugappa group (12.7 percent) and Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (8.5 percent). The Model 650 will be installed at IIT Madras as part of a US $6 million research project focused on developing nanotechnology research in India. Prof. M.S.R. Rao, Prof. S. Ramaprabhu and Prof. S.S. Bhattacharya are the principal Investigators of NFMTC from IIT Madras, whereas, persons in charge from the two Industries are Mr. M.M. Murugappa (Murugappa Group) and Dr. C.B. Rao (Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals).