Category Archives: Materials and Equipment

June 16, 2008 – Foreign ownership of Japanese frontend process semiconductor equipment firms rose in the fiscal year ended in March, while the opposite was true for domestic firms serving the backend of the manufacturing line, noted the Nikkei daily.

Tokyo Electron saw its foreign investor stake climb two percentage points to 40.1%, as profits rose 16% Y-Y to a record ¥106.2B, the paper noted. Meanwhile, at Dainippon Screen Mfg Co. rose 1.1 points to 22.5%, and 8.4 points to 21.5% at Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc.

Two backend firms saw foreign interest fall, though: Advantest’s foreign investor percentage fell 5.9 points to 27.6%, with a 15.7 point plunge at Tokyo Seimitsu to just 5%.

Nuremberg, Germany &#151 Bigger and more international than ever, exhibitors at SMT/Hybrid Packaging, June 2-4, Nuremberg, Germany, focused their product showcases around the theme of automotive electronics, or used the venue for the European launch of new products. Overall, 632 exhibitors and 87 represented companies occupied 29,600 sq m of exhibition space that was divided into 3 halls. Taking it all in even in three days was a little like trying to cram a visit to the Louvre all in one day. Although companies serving the circuit board assembly market still appeared to dominate, representation from the advanced packaging market, and yes, even the front-end semiconductor industry more than implies that the shift from the over-the-wall development days to parallel technology development is underway, and the end-product is the driving force. Here’s just a sample of what there was to see.

In his opening comments during the event press conference, Herbert Reichl, Ph.D.of Fraunhofer, IZM and committee chairman of the event talked about the potential with PCBs, and work his team is involved with to develop multi-functional substrates. Silicon integration is key, he said, as well as integration of components in and on the circuit board. Bare chip embedded technologies, such as the HIDING DIES project’s chip in polymer (CiP), also requires collaboration between chip, package and board from design, processes, test, inspection, and materials perspectives.

Atotech, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, is one materials company positioned to address these anticipated advancements in technology roadmaps. The company’s strategy is to promote the concept that process suppliers need an intimate knowledge of supply chain requirements now and in the future. Atotech’s product portfolio includes PCB and IC substrates; advanced dielectrics, imaging systems and surface protections; and wet chemical metal deposition for advanced wafer level packaging applications.

In addition to its assembly materials product family, W.C. Heraeus showcased a dippable paste suited to a variety of wafer-level applications. Anton Miric, business manager for Europe, Assembly Materials said the paste was first developed for the U.S. market, and is now being introduced to the European market. When compared to tacky flux, Miric explained that the dippable paste provides a higher level of reliability due to its tackier nature. Its conductive properties also make it suitable for flip chip applications, and in package-on-package stacks, it could be used for die-attach, replacing wire bonds. Miric also talked about the overlapping trend between packaging and SMT, especially with regard to system-in-package. He predicted packaging to be a differentiator for semiconductor manufacturers, and not just the chip stack itself. As chips heat up more due smaller size coupled with increased performance, both packaging and SMT technologies must be reliable.

Lord Corporation has set out to address the heat issue across the chip, package and board by introducing several high-performance materials at the show. Visitors to the booth could see developments in thermally conductive flip chip underfill, high performance thermal gel, high thermal conductivity thermal greases, and a new non-silicone thermal die-attach lid.

Well-known for vision and X-ray inspection tools for board assembly, Viscom AG, has expanded its product portfolio not just into the packaging market with its wire bond inspection system, but has introduced a wafer inspection system as well. Volker Pape, president of Viscom, explained the latest enhancements on all three tools. The newest of the three is the MX2000IR, a wafer inspection system based on a patented infrared technology that is able to expose defects in silicon, something conventional X-ray technologies are unable to do. The application scope for the MX2000IR inspection system includes MEMS, wafer bonds, flip chips, and photovoltaic products.

Showcasing BMP Microsystems’ Flashstream technology, which was first launched at Productronica in a manual version, was Lyman Brown, the company’s executive V.P. and COO. This next-generation automated system has done away with the socket card in exchange for modules only. Hardware was the limiting factor for programming flash devices, he explained. This technology works with the speed of silicon and can handle high speed flash devices. “Customers provide the programming, we provide the means to program.” he said.

The Besi Group was out in full-force, promoting their capabilities across the back-end process spectrum from Datacon’s bare die handling equipment, Fico’s molding, trim, form and singulation capabilities, and Meco’s plating tools for leadframes, which operates as a separate entity from Datacon and Fico. The company has not delved into wire bonding, says Michael Auer, V.P. sales, Besi, because it’s not considered to be an innovative technology. He says three of the major packaging houses &#151 STATS ChipPAC, Amkor, and ASE &#151 have indicated a transfer from wire bonding to flip chip technology. In response to that, Datacon as introduced its 8800 Chameo, a high-speed multi-place flip chip machine during SEMICON Singapore. Besi’s strategy as an organization is to remain a European company, explained Auer, and will run R&D, product marketing, and management operations there, while moving much of the production to Kuala Lampur.

According to sales engineer, Patrick van Asch, ASM Assembly Products wants to stand out from the beginning to the end of the line. Its parent company, ASMI offers wafer processing equipment, while ASM Assembly products focuses on package assembly equipment. They’ve launched two major tools in the past few months; the Eagle Xtreme gold wire bonder, introduced at SEMICON Singapore, and the MCM12 multi chip die bonder for bonding flip chip and SMD components. SiP assembly is the target application for this tool, introduced 2 weeks prior to SMT/Hybrid/Packaging, and according to van Asch, already getting positive feedback.

One step removed from assembly equipment itself was CTQ, who showcased their machine accuracy measurement system. Mathias Keil, Ph.D., managing director for CTQ, explained how the system is used on production lines to calibrate and check existing machines.With 9 service locations and 3 in the US, the goal is to give suppliers valid technical data of the equipment in the field. Currently, CTQ’s major market is Europe, but Keil says business is growing in the US and Asia. He explained that the units are mobile and compact enough for technicians to travel with them. Latest capabilities include checking c-force measurement for pick-and-place tools, and checking the accuracy of wire bond systems. The units also double as housings for espresso makers, as was demonstrated to one tired editor at the company’s booth, much to her appreciation.

June 9, 2008 – Semiconductor equipment sales in general are expected to slump in 2008, and the automation segment is no exception, though there is some motion in the sector among suppliers, according to a brief analysis by The Information Network.

Sales of automated material handling systems (AMHS) is seen dropping 34% in 2008, but will gain some of that back in 2009 (+19%), the firm projects. Meanwhile, the market for atmospheric robotics will essentially make up ground lost in 2008 (-13%) in 2009 (+14%).

“Robotics and integrated manufacturing are being deployed in all 300mm fabs to connect to processing equipment and central computers,” notes the firm’s president, Robert Castellano, in a statement. “But if fabs are not being built and processing equipment not being sold, the automation sector will suffer.”

In the vacuum robotics segment (systems contained within vacuum-based tools), captive OEM products are losing share to merchant suppliers whose experience is in the robotics components instead of the integrated processing tools, he suggests. Merchant vacuum robotics is dominated by Brooks Automation (90% share), while Applied Materials is tops in the captive sector.

For atmospheric robotics, where only 27% of robotic tool sales were from captive suppliers, Brooks led with a 64% share, followed by Yaskawa and Genmark.

For AMHS (“interbay”) equipment, Daifuku was tops in 2007 (41% share) followed by Asyst/Shinko, the firm notes.

June 9, 2008 — Advanced nanomaterials company Angstron Materials LLC has acquired a new 22,000 square foot manufacturing facility where it will provide small to large batch processing and production capacity for its carbon-based nano-graphene platelets (NGPs), and continue its research and development efforts. Angstron’s NGPs can be blended with other nanomaterials to achieve higher loadings required for various forms of composite lamina as well as nanocomposites for load-bearing and functional applications.

Based in Dayton, Ohio, the new facility will increase Angstron’s ability to offer customers a turnkey solution from application development and pilot quantities for test articles to scale-up for required production volumes. The company claims that NGPs can be used as an alternative to carbon nanotubes and are suited to aerospace, automotive, energy, marine, electronics, construction, medical and telecommunications applications.
Angston announced availability of large quantities of its single atomic layer thick NGPs in April, 2008.

“The new location gives Angstron the capability to produce tons of pristine NGP material annually,” said Dr. Bor Z. Jang, CEO of Angstron Materials, LLC. “The larger facility will allow Angstron to more effectively meet customer requirements.”

Angstron’s engineered NPGs are available in several forms including raw materials and solutions. These solutions can achieve an exceptionally high loading and maintain uniform dispersion without degrading viscosity.
The company promises to reduce production cost barriers with its nano-graphene solutions, and claims that NGPs are similar to nanotubes but offer improved performance properties including very high Young’s modulus, strength and surface area, superior thermal and electrical conductivity, lower density and less weight. As a result, Angstron says it is able to work with companies to develop products for batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, light weight structural components as well as electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio frequency interference (RFI), electrostatic discharge (ESD), lightning strike and composite applications.

June 6, 2008&#8212Digital Surf (Besançon, France), developer of topographical analysis tools for micro and nano-surfaces, has released Mountains Technology version 5. The new software enables metrological analysis of the evolution of a 3D surface, for instance nanotechnology or a MEMS device, in a fourth dimension.

The 4D software module is compatible with any 3D instrument, says Digital Surf Changes in height on the z axis are now not only a function of the x, y position but also of a 4th dimension t, which is most often time, but can equally well be temperature, pressure, magnetic field or any other physical constraint applied to an object or surface for the purpose of studying its reaction.

4D analysis can be used to study surface change over time for issues such as corrosion, UV depolymerisation of epoxy in a composite material, or loss of surface protection; it can be used to measure warping in response to an external force; or for the dynamic study of a functioning microsystem or MEMS structure.

Using the software, simulated flights over 3D surfaces changing in time can be output to a video file for animated presentations. Analysis features include tools for manipulating and quantifying 4D series of surfaces z=f(x ,y, t). In particular, it is possible to follow the evolution of a point or a zone over time, to correlate the evolution of a surface texture parameter with the evolution of another physical unit, and to study the statistical dispersion of a roughness parameter. A tool that has been around for a long time, but is new in the analysis of surface topography, is the KLT (Karhunen-Loève Transform). The KLT makes it possible to automatically identify zones on a surface that behave differently, with a view to locating them and studying them separately.

Last year, Digital Surf announced that surface analysis software, based on a version of Mountains, is now integrated into NanoFocus’s micronsurf 3D topometers and micronscan profilometers.

June 5, 2008&#8212Unidym, Inc., a manufacturer of carbon nanotubes, and Battelle, a non-profit independent research and development organization, have formed an alliance focused on multi-functional nanocomposites for aerospace and transportation applications. Under the alliance the companies will collaborate with aerospace and automotive companies, and their composite materials suppliers that require carbon nanotube formulated coatings, sealants, adhesives and load-bearing composites.

“Unidym and Battelle have both been approached by customers with strong interests in seeing carbon nanotubes introduced into composite materials,” noted Art Swift, Unidym’s president and CEO. “For some time now we have supplied sample quantities of nanotubes to a variety of composite materials suppliers and their industrial customers. By aligning with Battelle, we are now able to leverage each other’s complementary strengths for the benefit of our customers.”

“Battelle and Unidym have capabilities to advance the development and commercialization of high performance composite materials,” said Carl Kohrt, Battelle’s president and CEO. “We have performed years of research into various applications of carbon nanotubes. Combining our experience with Unidym’s materials manufacturing capabilities and foundational patent portfolio provides our clients with an opportunity to accelerate the use of carbon nanotubes in nanocomposite material formulation and fabrication.”

The companies have combined resources in this way to jointly approach manufacturers and material suppliers in order to discuss the application of current research, gather specific customer requirements for high performance composite materials and present a licensing program for their intellectual property portfolios. Both companies have seen significant industrial interest in applications such as high performance carbon nanotube enhanced carbon fiber composites, carbon nanotube based thermoplastic nanocomposites that can be injection molded, and thermoset nanocomposites that can be fabricated with various resin transfer molding (RTM) processes and through the compression molding of nanostructured sheet molding compound (SMC) formulations.

Unidym is a leader in the manufacture and application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), a novel material with extraordinary electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. Unidym provides bulk materials, CNT-enabled products, and intellectual property to a wide range of customers and business partners. As a result of its recent merger with CNI, Unidym possesses a foundational patent portfolio that covers nearly every aspect of CNT manufacturing and processing as well as multiple product applications.

Unidym is focused on the electronics industry where its initial products include transparent electrodes for touch screens, flat panel displays, solar cells, and solid state lighting; electrodes for fuel cells; and thin film transistors for printable electronics. Unidym is also pursuing an aggressive, cross-industry partnership strategy to capture value from the wide ranging uses of CNTs. Unidym’s licensing program, technical expertise and manufacturing facilities can enable partners to rapidly develop CNT solutions for their specific applications.

Earlier this year, Unidym entered into a joint development agreement with Nippon Kayaku, a Japanese chemical company, to integrate Unidym’s printable transparent electrodes into Nippon Kayaku’s thin film solar cells.

(June 5, 2008) Kista, SWEDEN&#151 Replisaurus Technologies, Inc., pioneer in nanoscale electrodeposition of metal patterns, has acquired S.E.T. SAS to establish a production site for its integrated and fully automated high-volume manufacturing tools for its proprietary ElectroChemical Pattern Replication (ECPR) technology.

S.E.T. Smart Equipment Technology, the former device bonder division of SUSS MicroTec, is a global supplier of high accuracy device bonders, including chip-to-wafer tools for 3D integration and versatile nanoimprint lithography (NIL) solutions. S.E.T. is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Replisaurus, which is based near Stockholm.

“S.E.T. significantly strengthens our position as an emerging key player in the advanced-packaging market, and this acquisition provides us with an exceptional team of highly skilled engineers with significant experience in building very precise and fully automated semiconductor tools,” said James Quinn, CEO of Replisaurus Technologies.

Based in Saint Jeoire, France, S.E.T. has a long tradition of innovation in high-precision applications for the semiconductor industry. Since 1975, it has delivered more than 2,500 systems and developed over 30 different types of equipment. With an installed base of more than 250 device bonders worldwide, S.E.T. is globally recognized for its post-bonding accuracy and the flexibility of its systems. Its chip-to-chip and chip-to-wafer bonding platforms can be adapted to all bonding technologies from fluxless reflow through most types of adhesives to thermo compression bonding. It will continue to develop and produce device bonders while manufacturing tools for Replisaurus’s ECPR technology.

“Our complementary technologies and strategies make this a very good fit for both companies,” said Ga

June 4, 2008&#8212Nantero Inc., a nanotechnology company using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for the development of next-generation semiconductor devices, has announced a collaboration with SVTC Technology to accelerate the commercialization of nanotube-based electronics products. Nantero has developed a “CMOS-friendly” proprietary CNT process that it will install at SVTC’s two development fabs, in San Jose, Calif., and Austin, Texas.

The development builds on Brewer Science’s announcement, made last year during Semicon West, that it had commercialized the industry’s first microelectronics-grade carbon nanotube coating . Brewer manufactures the material, and under a technology license from Nantero, is the exclusive manufacturer and supplier of microelectronics-grade CNT coating for Nantero’s NRAM field of uses.

“What Brewer announced at Semicon West last year is that carbon nanotubes can be properly put into suspension, and patterned and etched in the standard way,” explained Scott Marquardt of SVTC during an exclusive interview with Small Times. “Our announcement says that the technology is now available to any company, fab or fabless.” And, he added, “people can integrate the carbon nanotube process into new or current projects.”

Trying out the CNT-based processes, says Marquardt, “would be complicated otherwise for IDMs” (integrated device manufacturers). “At SVTC they can try [the material] out.”

By making Nantero’s proprietary CNT process available at SVTC’s development fabs, the two companies hope to enable potential licensees of Nantero to develop and commercialize the use of CNTs in SVTC’s IP-secure environment. Due to their novel properties (e.g., extraordinary strength, unique electrical properties, and efficient heat conduction), CNTs hold tremendous promise for a variety of semiconductor, nanotechnology and optics applications.

“By placing our CNT process module at SVTC, we are now able to support multiple co-development relationships across a growing array of CMOS-grade CNT devices,” said Greg Schmergel, CEO of Nantero. “Our development partners now have the opportunity to develop CNT products with us in a third-party environment utilizing state-of-the-art capabilities that will transfer efficiently to their own production environments.”

Schmergel told Small Times that, “Brewer’s announcement said that the material is finally available. This announcement says that the foundry is available.” He explained that the announcement is being made by Nantero and SVTC without Brewer’s involvement because, while Brewer is currently the only company licensing Nantero’s technology for this purpose, and customers can buy the CMOS-friendly CNT material only from Brewer, theoretically customers can buy the material from other suppliers.

Schmergel noted that over time, he expects to partner with other foundries especially overseas, but that, at least in the U.S., SVTC is the biggest R&D fab.
Asked about customers exploring use of the material already, Schmergel identified On Semiconductor, Hewlett-Packard, and BAE. There are others, he says, “but none we can disclose.” He mentioned, though, that a number of companies in MEMS have found the material useful for solving problems or enhancing products. “One company that we’ve worked with makes CNT-based sensors to detect diseases,” he said, explaining that the nanotubes enabled smaller, cheaper sensors than before, that would be packaged for sale in local pharmacies for self testing.

The companies’ collaboration fits well with SVTC’s broader mission to enable commercialization of new process and device developments in the semiconductor, MEMS and related nanotechnology domains with support for a direct path between the work completed in SVTC’s facilities to high-volume manufacturing. CNTs represent an ideal area for SVTC because, currently, there is a huge gap between the promise of carbon nanotubes as demonstrated in research labs and their translation into commercial products that can be manufactured in high volumes.

Together, Nantero and SVTC can offer CNT device development capabilities for customers targeting a wide range of applications including photovoltaics (solar cells), LEDs, sensors, MEMS and other semiconductor-based devices.

According to Schmergel, Nantero is “growing dramatically, and hiring.” The company now employs more than 60 people, and had just 30 employees two years ago. “All our growth is funded by customer work,” he said&#8212not by venture funding.

SVTC, by the way, recently announced a new photovoltaics-development initiative.

by Ed Korczynski, senior technical editor, Solid State Technology

The 11th International Interconnect Technology Conference (IITC) is now underway in Burlingame, CA, once again presenting the leading-edge of on-chip interconnect technology developments, with details on new materials, processes, and structures. 3D interconnects and through-silicon vias (TSV) are being discussed in serious detail, while work continues on air-gap dielectrics and carbon nanotubes along with new copper barrier materials.

3D with TSV may be the ultimate interconnect concept, since stacked chips provide optimal functionality/volume and provide for relatively low-cost heterogeneous integration of diverse technologies such as sensors. TSV (and many variations thereof) have been hot topics in 3D for many years, with “via-last” being done today in production for memory stacks needing typically <100 TSV per chip. In contrast, "via-first" TSV processing flows may produce thousands per chip, and there are many integration schemes possible. IITC publicity chairman (and IBM researcher) Michael Shapiro commented that, "3D is such a 'silicon-centric' process technology that the IITC is really the place to have the discussion, because all the experts of silicon etching and planarization are here and have always been here."

Click here to read more…

May 20, 2008 — /PRNewswire/ — MOFFETT FIELD, CA — NASA has developed a revolutionary nanotechnology-based biosensor that can detect trace amounts of specific bacteria, viruses, and parasites. This biosensor will be used to help prevent the spread of potentially deadly biohazards in water, food, and other contaminated sources.

NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in California licensed the biosensor technology to Early Warning Inc., Troy, NY. Under a Reimbursable Space Act Agreement, NASA and Early Warning jointly will develop biosensor enhancements. Initially, the biosensor will be configured to detect the presence of common and rare strains of microorganisms associated with water-borne illnesses and fatalities.

“The biosensor makes use of ultra-sensitive carbon nanotubes which can detect biohazards at very low levels,” explains Meyya Meyyappan, chief scientist for exploration technology and former director of the Center for Nanotechnology at Ames. “When biohazards are present, the biosensor generates an electrical signal, which is used to determine the presence and concentration levels of specific microorganisms in the sample. Because of their tiny size, millions of nanotubes can fit on a single biosensor chip.”

Early Warning company officials say food and beverage companies, water agencies, industrial plants, hospitals, and airlines could use the biosensor to prevent outbreaks of illnesses caused by pathogens — without needing a laboratory or technicians.

“Biohazard outbreaks from pathogens and infectious diseases occur every day in the U.S. and throughout the world,” says Neil Gordon, president of Early Warning. “The key to preventing major outbreaks is frequent and comprehensive testing for each suspected pathogen, as most occurrences of pathogens are not detected until after people get sick or die. Biohazards can enter the water supply and food chain from a number of sources, which are very difficult to uncover.

Early Warning expects to launch its water-testing products in late 2008.

“Ambitious space missions have produced some of the world’s most creative technologies by NASA and its industrial partners,” says Harry Partridge, deputy director of the Space Technologies Division at Ames. “Not only does NASA want these technologies used in space applications, an equally important objective is the transition of NASA research into real world products that can benefit our society.”

Source: NASA

Visit http://ipp.nasa.gov/

Visit www.earlywarninginc.com