Category Archives: Materials and Equipment

January 26, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Test system maker Keithley Instruments Inc. upgraded the capabilities of its Automated Characterization Suite (ACS) Test Environment to ACS Version 4.4. The software is used with several Keithley instrument and system configurations for automated device characterization and reliability analysis.

V.4.4 supports a newly enhanced reliability test option (Model ACS-2600-RTM), as well as expanded ultra-fast bias temperature instability (BTI) testing capabilities; high current testing of power components; and new project libraries designed for high voltage reliability, charge pumping, pulse-stress reliability, and stress migration testing applications. The revision adds support for Windows 7 operating systems.

ACS combines multiple instruments used for semiconductor device characterization and parametric measurements into a unified test environment optimized for flexibility, speed, and productivity in testing and analysis.

The Model ACS-2600-RTM reliability test module simplifies creation and execution of complex stress-measure-analyze test sequences used in device reliability tests, such as HCI, TDDB, NBTI, J-Ramp, and more. Semiconductor test engineers use it for device reliability testing and analysis in R&D and production test environments. The module can be applied in characterizing single devices or managing high-device-count test applications. It quickly defines test parameters common to large groups of devices or many sub-groups, executes tests with run-time results feedback, and enables earlier analysis of large datasets of measurement results.

In order to respond to the high-speed behaviors associated with semiconductor device failure mechanisms and produce the masses of data associated with reliability testing of multiple devices in parallel, each source measurement unit (SMU) instrument in a test configuration must be fast, and all SMU channels must work quickly as a group or several sub-groups. For reliability test applications of this type, the Model ACS-2600-RTM maximizes the performance of Keithley

January 26, 2012 – Marketwire — Test Advantage Capital Group, a business of Boston Semi Equipment LLC (BSE Group), surpassed $150 million in its portfolio of semiconductor manufacturing equipment under management. Boston Semi Equipment’s fab equipment leasing business also received a $100 million annual commitment from its financial backer, Wafra Capital Partners.

Test Advantage Capital, formed with Somerset Capital Group, develops structured financing plans for BSE Group customers, enabling them to acquire assets with financial flexibility and efficiency.

With Wafra’s funding commitment, BSE Group will grow its portfolio of semiconductor front-end and back-end equipment for lease. The BSE Group provides short term, long term, systems, options, subsystems and spares level rentals/leases.

The financial partnerships with Wafra and the Somerset Capital Group enable BSE Group to provide financing structures that are otherwise unavailable to semiconductor makers, said Doug Elder, CEO, Boston Semi Equipment, offering the example of combined financing solutions with equipment from BSE Group’s inventory.

BSE Group recently expanded its chip fab equipment leasing programs to Japan, and acquired the assets of Asia Tech Corporation, forming BSE Tech.

Boston Semi Equipment LLC serves semiconductor front end manufacturing and back end assembly and test through leasing, rental, and resale of equipment. BSE Group also partners with equipment suppliers to enable financing and sales. For more information visit http://www.bsegroup.com.

Wafra is part of a global investment firm founded in 1985. Wafra’s U.S. affiliate, Wafra Capital Partners Inc., is a U.S. registered investment advisor.  

Somerset was established in 1984 and offers a broad range of equipment leasing and asset management solutions.

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January 25, 2012 — 2E mechatronic GmbH & Co. KG designed a 3D molded interconnect device (MID) flow sensor that uses Ticona’s Vectra E840i LDS laser-activated liquid crystal polymer (LCP) for electronic circuits. The Vectra E840i forms circuits on 3D injection moldings produced with a Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) process.

The sensor is injection molded entirely from Vectra E840i LDS, specially developed for use with the LPKF Laser & Electronics AG LDS process. The tracks on the 12 x 10 x 6mm component are etched with LPKF laser equipment that selectively activates the laser-sensitive additive in the Ticona LCP. The circuit pattern is subsequently electrolysis plated.

Vectra E840i LDS MID specialty grade is 40% mineral filled with special LDS additive, reflow solderable, and more isotropic than typical glass-filled LCP. It has a high melt temperature and its heat deflection temperature (HDT) prevents softening during reflow. Its flow characteristics enable miniaturization, reducing component weight. It has a low humidity absorption, low warpage, no flash, and high dimensional stability. Other benefits include low coeffecient of thermal expansion (CTE) and inherent UL-94 V0 compliance without fire-retardant additives.

The process offers cost-efficient, low-volume packaging for sensor, microphone module, and ring contact designs, among others. Design changes to the conductor tracks are simply implemented by reprogramming the laser.

This sensor is used in air conditioning systems. 2E mechatronic worked on the chip-based sensor project with relay and switch specialist Gruner AG, research institute HSG Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft and micro-sensor developer MicroMountains Applications AG, all of Germany. Harting Mitronics has developed MIDs such as a camera module MID with a Vectra E840i LDS substrate for the Sick V300 Work Station camera. Other potential applications include a laser-structured MID-LED light component for dental lamps, automats, and house and street lighting.

Ticona will showcase its Vectra LCP specialty grades for electrical and electronic components at DesignCon 2012, Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 in Santa Clara, CA, Booth #218.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of specialty materials and chemical products. Ticona, the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corporation, produces and markets a range of high performance products. For more information, please visit www.ticona.com or www.ticona.cn (Chinese language).

January 24, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Presto Engineering, integrated semiconductor test and product engineering services provider, opened its newest Hub to serve the semiconductor design community, in Israel. This Hub was established through Presto Engineering’s acquisition of the assets of ITH (Israel Test House).

The new Hub offers the Israeli electronics and semiconductor community a range of chip testing, reliability/stress testing and failure analysis (FA) services. It will coordinate with Presto Engineering’s existing Hubs in Silicon Valley and Europe.

"Israel continues to be a premier market for microelectronics, especially in the area of high speed communications," stated Dr. Michel Villemain, Presto Engineering founder and CEO. ITH has served the Israeli market for 16 years, partnering with Presto Engineering for the last 4. Presto Engineering plans to continue existing services, current staff, and capabilities. It will also update and expand the service offering.

Presto Engineering, an ISO 9001 company, delivers comprehensive test and product engineering solutions to IDM and fabless semiconductor companies from hubs in Silicon Valley, Europe and Israel. More information can be found at www.presto-eng.com.

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January 24, 2012 – PRNewswire — Core Wafer Systems, Inc. (CWS), subsidiary of Action Products International Inc. (OTC Pink:APII), upgraded its PDQ-WLR on-wafer accelerated reliability product line to version 7.0. CWS designed v.7.0 specifically for Agilent Technologies’ Parametric Testers.

Version 7.0 offers expanded measurement and reporting capabilities for sophisticated deep-nanometer technology test suites. PDQ-WLR 7.0 provides 50% more measurements than previous versions and addresses issues for deep nanometer technologies such as NBTI or intelligent mobile ion. It is a stand-alone software release (Version 8 works in conjunction with PDQ-WARp).

Also read: New High Voltage Devices Will Change Parametric Test

The PDQ-WLR product is a plug-in for Agilent Technologies’ High Volume Manufacturing Testers (40XX) product line, running in HP-UX or LINUX operating systems. The new routines utilize the advanced features of the Agilent testers and instruments such as the arbitrary waveform generator and parallel stress and measurements for a number of tests. PDQ-WLR 7.0 can be purchased as a drop-in or a separate product, backwards-compatible upgrade for earlier versions of PDQ-WLR running in HP-UX, or those running under CWS’ ASUR SDR.

The new version resulted from customer input; CWS has over 800 active licenses of PDQ-WLR, said Greg Miller, Board of Directors, Action Products and marketing director of Core Wafer Systems, including TSMC, Winbond, Texas Instruments (TI), and Hewlett Packard (HP).

CWS received commitments exceeding $3 million in revenue from upgrades in 2012, and expects to more than double its current orders. CWS is targeting over 300% growth into 2013 between upgrades and new customers.

Action Products International, Inc. (OTC Pink: APII.PK) is the parent company of Core Wafer Systems, Inc., a technology leader with a propriety parallel measurement schema for evaluation of physical phenomena in semiconductor devices and processes. More information is available at http://www.corewafer.com or http://www.actionproductsinternational.com.

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January 23, 2012 – PRNewswire via COMTEX — Pure-play MEMS foundry Silex Microsystems joined "Energy-efficient Piezo-MEMS Tunable RF Front-End Antenna Systems for Mobile Devices," or EPAMO, which is a European Union funded program developing new technologies for high performance RF systems, energy-efficient mobile communication systems, highly miniaturized and integrated RF components, and cost-efficient mobile phone component technologies.

Silex will develop high-performance metal through-silicon vias (TSV) for RF applications, PZT piezoelectric thin film technologies for actuator manufacture, and advanced integrated passive devices (IPD) using through-wafer processing and advanced materials development. This program leverages Silex’ expertise in 3D through-wafer processing to develop new micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) capabilities, says Dr Thorbjorn Ebefors, chief technologist at Silex Microsystems. "These new techniques will be used to fabricate high-density integrated inductors, resistors and capacitors for new classes of devices," Ebefors added.

RF MEMS have gained a great deal of interest from mobile electronics followers recently, when a WiSpry RF MEMS component was identified in a major Samsung smartphone. WiSpry confirmed the design win.

EPAMO will develop new advanced wafer materials and RF component designs, combining new thin film materials and thin film technologies with CMOS solutions and advanced 3D packaging technologies. Silex is the only pure-play foundry involved in EPAMO.

EPAMO is coordinated by Dr. Thomas Metzger of EPCOS AG (RF filters and module solutions provider for the RF front-end of mobile phones). For more information see www.epamo.eu.

ENIAC JU (European Technology Platform on Nanoelectronics Joint Undertaking), a public-private partnership between the European Commission, 21 European countries and various nanoelectronics actors funds euro 2.2 M of EPAMO budget. National public funding from the participating nations covers euro 5.5 M, and euro 5.6 M comes from EPAMO partners. For more information see www.eniac.eu.

Silex Microsystems a pure-play MEMS foundry with production operations totaling 25,000 square feet and dedicated lines for both 6" and 8" wafers. For more information see www.silexmicrosystems.com

January 19, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Hitachi Chemical Co. Ltd. (TOKYO:4217) filed a lawsuit against INNOX Corporation with the Intellectual Property Court of Taiwan, alleging infringement on Hitachi Chemical’s Taiwanese patent related to die bonding film used in semiconductor packaging processes.

Hitachi Chemical’s Taiwan Patent No. I298084 is the subject of the company’s patent case, alleging use in INNOX’s product WL-0020-05A, a die bonding film for wafer dicing steps. Hitachi Chemical has sent INNOX a warning letter concerning patent infringement based on Korean patent and further negotiated with INNOX in April 2011 without an amicable settlement. Hitachi Chemical has now filed a lawsuit against INNOX’s WL-0020 series products in Taiwan.

Hitachi Chemical developed a die bonding film in 1993, used for multi-laminate semiconductor attach, bonding semiconductor chips often in high density, multi-layer package designs. Hitachi Chemical offers die bonding film, dicing die bonding film and related products, and claims the largest global market share. The company has about 500 patents (including pending applications) related to die bonding films and dicing die bonding films in Japan and other countries.

Contact Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. (Japan) at http://www.hitachi-chem.co.jp/english/index.html.

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January 19, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Optomec Inc., additive manufacturing systems provider, opened its new and expanded Advanced Applications Lab and Product Development Facility in St. Paul, MN. The facility will help Optomec grow its Aerosol Jet technology for advanced printed electronics applications.

The new facility comprises 7600 square feet of office and general laboratory space and will be utilized for both advanced development of Aerosol Jet Printed Electronics Applications and for new product engineering. Dr. Mike Renn will continue his role as Director of Aerosol Jet Advanced Application Development, and John Lees, recently appointed Director of Aerosol Jet New Product Development, will lead the product engineering team at the new facility. In conjunction with the expansion, Optomec is looking to double its local staff.

Optomec’s Aerosol Jet systems for Printed Electronics utilize a proprietary material deposition process to direct write high resolution electronic circuitry, components and even complete devices on 2D and 3D surfaces. The Aerosol Jet deposition process is highly efficient and supports a wide variety of electronic materials compared to traditional subtractive manufacturing processes. Aerosol Jet systems can be used to both lower costs and enhance performance of current electronic devices, as well as to enable the creation of next generation products, such as 3D semiconductor packaging, high efficiency solar cells and solid oxide fuel cells.

Also read: Optomec aerosol jet printing featured as wire bond, TSV alternative

Optomec provides of additive manufacturing solutions for high-performance electronics, solar, medical, and aerospace & defense applications using its Aerosol Jet printed electronics technology and LENS powder-metal fabrication technology. To learn more, visit http://www.Optomec.com

January 18, 2012 — The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany and Applied DNA Sciences (APDN) are partnering to enable nanotechnology to play a critical role in preventing the counterfeiting of computer chips–a collaboration in the groundbreaking area of "nanosecurity" that initially targets the $20 billion defense industry chip market and has the potential to impact nanoelectronics and aerospace markets well in excess of $300 billion. The nanosecurity technique, which uses DNA material, goes well beyond laser-based chip marking of security codes.

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Through joint research and development at CNSE’s Albany NanoTech Complex, CNSE and APDN, will accelerate the development of APDN’s SigNature DNA product that includes new methods for botanical DNA deposition on nanoelectronics wafers–including computer chips, CMOS, MEMS, photonics, and other device derivatives, as well as advanced packaging technologies such as 3D wafer-to-wafer and die-on-wafer–both prior to and during final packaging. The APDN system marks computer chips with uncopyable DNA codes that can then be used to authenticate the originality of chips anywhere along the supply chain, using a variety of chemical and photonic-based DNA sequence analysis instrumentation.

Dean Fuleihan, CNSE Executive Vice President for Strategic Partnerships, said, "The UAlbany NanoCollege is delighted to enter into this partnership with Applied DNA Sciences to enable innovative anti-counterfeiting technology that is vital to protecting American troops and U.S. military interests, both at home and abroad. This collaboration will accelerate research, development and commercialization to ensure the security and integrity of computer chips that drive our nation

January 18, 2011 — Die bonder supplier Hesse & Knipps Inc., the Americas subsidiary of Hesse & Knipps Semiconductor Equipment GmbH, will discuss "Wedge Bonding for RF and Microwave Devices" at the Advanced Technology Workshop and Tabletop Exhibition on RF and Microwave Packaging, February 7-8, 2012 in San Diego, CA.

The objective of the RF and Microwave Packaging Workshop is to provide a unique forum that brings together scientists, engineers, manufacturing, academia, and business people from around the world who work in the area of RF and Microwave packaging technologies. For a full program at the event, visit http://www.imaps.org/rf/index.htm.

RF and microwave device interconnection requires wedge bonding with ribbon wire, due to its ability to create flat, extremely low loop shape, and constant wire length. For high-frequency electrical signals, conduction occurs in the skin, or outer 0.5