August 3, 2012 — PCB and IC package design tool maker Zuken updated its CR-5000 design software to version 14, with greater collaboration in FPGA development and targeting high-speed design. Many enhancements have also been included in CR-5000 Lightning, Zuken
Category Archives: Materials and Equipment
August 2, 2012 — The ConFab, Solid State Technology’s invitation-only event for the semiconductor industry, took place in June, with presenters from top companies and analyst firms. If you couldn’t be there, check out all the coverage from the event — reports, presentations, video interviews and more — via the links below.
Presentations and analysis
A virtual IDM concept can unite foundries, fabless companies, and packaging houses
The ConFab 2012 opened in Las Vegas with a keynote address from John Chen, PhD, VP of technology and foundry operations at Nvidia Corporation.
@ The ConFab: How to prevail over silicon cycles
At The ConFab’s opening session, “The Economic Outlook for the Semiconductor Industry,” capex was a major point of interest. Jackie Sturm of Intel, Dan Hutcheson of VLSIresearch, and Jim Feldhan of Semico all touched on it, with Hutcheson expanding on the idea of capex trends.
@ The ConFab: Semiconductor industry experts look to the future
The ConFab’s sessions opened with “The Economic Outlook for the Semiconductor Industry,” featuring Jackie Sturm of Intel, Dan Hutcheson of VLSIresearch, and Jim Feldhan of Semico.
Legacy fab issues @ The ConFab 2012
Older production facilities face equipment obsolescence; skills obsolescence; scarce availability of parts, software, and support; and equipment capability extension and tool re-use. At the ConFab 2012 Executive Roundtable, representatives from Sematech/ISMI, IDMs, OEMs, equipment dealers, and others.
ISMI addresses tool obsolescence
Speaking at The ConFab 2012, Sanjay Rajguru, director of ISMI, pointed out that more than half the current fab capacity today comes from facilities that are more than ten years old, which is creating a problem with equipment obsolescence.
@ The ConFab: Supply chain or supply web for 3D packaging?
With many advanced packaging processes taking place on the semiconductor wafer, the traditional supply chain of front-end fab at the foundry and back-end fab at the packaging and test house is falling apart. The ConFab session, “Advanced Packaging and Progress in 3D Integration,” focused heavily on this dynamic.
3D/2.5D packaging technologies @ The ConFab
As packaging has played a larger and larger role in chip performance, form factor, and capabilities, The ConFab has increased its focus on back-end processes. Cue “Advanced Packaging and Progress in 3D Integration,” a session focused on the higher I/O density and other performance benefits of 3D packaging.
The ConFab: Chasing price, power, and performance
At The ConFab 2012, fabless companies and foundries have a common goal: reduce power, increase performance and reduce price (not necessarily in that order).
Semiconductors in the smart society: Next-generation connectivity @ The ConFab
Day 2 of The ConFab opened in Las Vegas with Ali Sebt, CEO of Renesas Electronics America, delivering “Smart Society, the Sensing Era and Signal Chain.”
The ConFab: Turning the technology knobs for system scaling
Chip scaling will go on for the foreseeable future, enabling new product with more compute power, more memory, faster on-chip communication. That was one of the conclusions put forth by imec’s An Steegen, speaking on technology trends at The ConFab 2012.
Big data and today’s semiconductor industry
Upon arriving at The ConFab’s venue, The Encore at The Wynn, Solid State Technology chief editor Pete Singer had an impromptu discussion about how the semiconductor industry has changed over the years, around smartphones and “big data,” with colleagues. Over 90% of the world’s data has been created in the last two years. What is big data? According to IBM, every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data.
ConFab interviews
G450 Consortium’s Tom Jefferson on 450mm timeline
Tom Jefferson, G450 Consortium, shares an update on 450mm wafers for semiconductor manufacturing. The consortium is adding staff and ramping its silicon supply, and getting ready for equipment selection.
Bill Tobey, president of ACT International Consulting, speaks about the evolution of extreme ultra violet (EUV) lithography at The ConFab 2012.
Amkor’s Ron Huemoeller on 3D packaging readiness
Ron Huemoeller of Amkor presented in the Advanced Packaging session of Solid State Technology’s The ConFab. He speaks with editor-in-chief Pete Singer.
ISMI’s Bill Ross on managing legacy fabs and supply obsolescence
Bill Ross, ISMI, is moderating a session today at The ConFab 2012 on managing legacy semiconductor fabs and dealing with tool and materials obsolescence at 200mm and smaller. He speaks with Pete Singer about coping with these changes.
Ali Sebt advocates switch from On/Off to smart sensing
Ali Sebt, CEO of Renesas Electronics America, keynoted Day 2 of Solid State Technology’s The ConFab 2012. Here, he discusses the role of inexpensive sensors and microcontrollers in energy savings, in a video interview.
Dai Nippon Printing’s Naoya Hayashi on mask readiness
Naoya Hayashi, research fellow for electronic device operations at Dai Nippon Printing, speaks with Solid State Technology chief editor Pete Singer during The ConFab 2012. Hayashi presented “NGL Mask Readiness” in The ConFab’s session on technology trends.
Semico’s Jim Feldhan on SSDs and semiconductor trends
Jim Feldhan of Semico speaks with Solid State Technology editor-in-chief Pete Singer about expectations for the semiconductor industry and solid-state drives.
Nvidia’s John Chen on semiconductor industry success
John Chen of Nvidia gave the opening keynote address of The ConFab 2012, presenting the concept of a “virtual IDM” comprising fabless companies, semiconductor foundries, and packaging houses working seamlessly together.
VLSI Research’s Dan Hutcheson on silicon cycles
Dan Hutcheson, VLSI Research Inc. spoke with Solid State Technology editor-in-chief Pete Singer at The ConFab 2012. Hutcheson presented on the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry.
August 1, 2012 — Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE-PKE) plans to cease operations at its Nelco Technology (Zhuhai FTZ) Ltd. facility in Zhuhai, China, and liquidate, subject to the requisite approvals of government authorities in China. Nelco products include microwave and RF component substrates, printed circuit materials, and advanced substrates such as BT.
Bismaleimide triazine (BT) substrates are widely used for IC packaging. Park will support all its customers in Asia from its Nelco Products Pte. Ltd. business unit in Singapore now, with manufacturing activities from Zhuhai moving to Singapore. The proposed cessation of operations does not contemplate the loss of any business by Park.
As the result of the cessation of operations at Nelco Technology (Zhuhai FTZ) Ltd., Park expects to record total pre-tax charges of approximately $3.2 million. The charges include non-cash charges of approximately $2.4 million and cash charges of approximately $0.8 million. The Company is recording approximately $2.6 million of these charges in the 2013 fiscal year second quarter ending August 26, 2012 and expects to record the balance of the charges during the remaining two quarters of the current fiscal year ending March 3, 2013 and the first quarter of the 2014 fiscal year. The Nelco Technology (Zhuhai FTZ) Ltd. business operations will have no further impact on the consolidated financial condition or results of operations of Park Electrochemical Corp. after the cessation of operations.
Park Electrochemical Corp. is a global advanced materials company that develops and manufactures high-technology digital and RF/microwave printed circuit materials principally for the telecommunications and internet infrastructure and high-end computing markets. The company also supplies advanced composite materials, parts and assemblies for the aerospace markets. Learn more at http://www.parkelectro.com/.
July 31, 2012 — Cardiff University spin-out Mesuro, semiconductor testing and services provider, raised
July 31, 2012 — Light emitting diodes (LEDs) comprise an LED chip, package frame, phosphor for light modulation, and encapsulants, which protect the LED from external environment moisture and other elements. The functional properties of these LED packaging elements are being increased as LEDs are more widely adopted.
LED encapsulants are closely related to the LED’s lifespan and light transmittance. With high-power and high-brightness LEDs emerging, the encapsulant’s role is becoming more important, says Displaybank.
Epoxy resin was the common encapsulant for lamp-type LEDs in the 1990s. As LEDs were adopted for mobile phones and LCD TVs, silicone encapsulants began to be used to meet the various functional property needs such as refractive index, heat resistance, light resistance, and so forth. Today, by revenue, more than 97% of the LED encapsulant market uses silicone encapsulant, a trend expected to continue in the future, Displaybank reports.
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| Figure 1. LED encapsulant market forecast, based on quantity. |
LED use in LCD TVs began to grow significantly in 2009, which kickstarted a growth spurt in LED package-use encapsulants in 2010. As the LED industry declined in 2011, demand also declined for encapsulants. The encapsulant market is forecasted to continue to grow in the future, as LED lighting grows globally.
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| Figure 2. Regional LED encapsulant market proportion forecast, based on revenue. |
Regionally, China will become the biggest market globally, accounting for more than 30% of the global LED encapsulant market in 2015, thanks to government support, continued investments from related companies, and the increased demand for LED lighting.
Based on such trend, Displaybank analyzed the overall industry overview of encapsulant and LED package-use encapsulant market, especially, focusing on the market by type and by region in the silicone encapsulant field, of the LED package-use encapsulant market. This report intends to assist LED encapsulant and LED package companies, the companies with interests in LED-related parts materials and new LED business, and the companies that belong to all LED related fields.
Learn more about Displaybank’s report, “LED Package-use Encapsulant Market Forecast,” at http://www.displaybank.com/_eng/research/report_view.html?id=873&cate=8
July 31, 2012 – Marketwire — Cascade Microtech, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCD), wafer-level IC test equipment supplier, introduced the modular MPS150 manual probe station with six application-specific packages for high-accuracy RF, mmW, and I-V/C-V measurement; failure analysis; and high-power device characterization.
The probe station is designed to be upgraded as needed, with a scalable base platform and system packages.
Also read: Cascade Microtech touts wafer-level test innovators at inaugural Innovation Awards
The 6 pre-configured packages for specific measurement applications target measurement repeatability in a shared lab environment, such as a research lab or university. Multiple users can access the prober, change test set-up, and reset quickly to another set up.
The MPS150 system platform comprises a rigid microscope bridge and solid station frame, and a built-in vibration-isolation design. The design protects contact quality over measurement time. Probe placement and contact repeatability are served by backlash-free X-Y-Z movement of probe positioners, integrated platform planarization, and a contact separation drive with 1
July 30, 2012 — Henkel Electronic Materials added LOCTITE ABLESTIK CDF 200P to its conductive die attach film offering. The pre-cut film is available in 150mm and 200mm diameter sizes for easy wafer-form matching. The film can be used as a dicing tape as well as die attach.
The pre-cut film joins LOCTITE ABLESTIK C100, a conductive die attach film in roll format.
Conductive die attach films enable uniform, consistent bondlines, eliminate die tilt, and work with thinned wafers, for leadframe and laminate packages. Films eliminate the fillet associated with paste-based die attach materials, which Henkel notes allows more die per package due to tighter die-to-pad clearance, and saves on wire bonding materials, substrate area, and mold compound usage.
LOCTITE ABLESTIK CDF 200P is compatible with commonly used lamination equipment, at lamination temperature of 65
July 30, 2012 — CGI Americas is introducing the QMO Series inert gas and vacuum ovens and MOL Series Class 100 cleanroom ovens, based on the SMO Series precision ovens from C Sun, to the North American market.
The ovens are used in semiconductor manufacturing, IC packaging and component manufacturing, as well as aerospace and medical manufacturing.
C Sun’s QMO Series inert gas ovens are oxygen-free curing ovens using CO2 or N2 gases to prevent oxidation in semiconductor fabrication, IC packaging, hybrid circuit manufacturing, optical coatings, and other applications.
C Sun (TSE: 2467) is one of Taiwan’s largest manufacturers of equipment for semiconductor, flat panel display (FPD), printed circuit fabrication, and other industries. C sun has over 50 years of experience and over 1,200 employees. For further information, go to www.cgi-americas.com
July 27, 2012 – Marketwire — Cascade Microtech Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCD), supplier of wafer-level measurement instruments for ICs, held its first Innovation Awards Ceremony to honor inventors, authors and other innovators at the company.
Cascade Microtech promoted its history in the test and measurement industry — the first microwave on-wafer probe, the first GHzF- capable probe card, the first on-wafer power device characterization system, the first integrated 1/f noise measurement system, the first multi-channel configurable quadrant probe capable of automated testing over temperature, and the first production power test system — with honors for
July 26, 2012 — Semiconductor packaging and assembly equipment supplier ASM Pacific Technology Limited noted in its H1 2012 results a record level of orders for leadframes in Q2. It also delivered what it calls the largest leadframe packaging set up to date.