Category Archives: Materials and Equipment

October 18, 2011 – Marketwire — MVTS Technologies opened new offices in San Jose, CA; Penang, Malaysia; and Hsinchu, Taiwan to support growing demand for test, assembly, and other IC production equipment and services among semiconductor manufacturers.

MVTS specializes in extending the usage life of semiconductor inspection and automatic test equipment (ATE) and other technologies used in the design, development and manufacturing of components.

MVTS identifies market needs in regional markets and adapts its service portfolio, said Ron Maassen, CEO of MVTS. The three new facilities will better support manufacturing, refurbishing, and maintaining legacy systems.

The facility in Penang is ISO 17025 qualified to support calibration service.

MVTS Technologies provides refurbished systems, upgrades and consumables to semiconductor manufacturers in more than 15 countries. More information is available at www.mvts.com.

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October 17, 2011 — ERS uncrated the ERS AirCool 3 wafer thermal test system at last week’s SEMICON Europa in Germany.

ERS designs air-cooled thermal chucks for wafer test because of increased in-field reliability. The Aircool 3 is ERS’s third-generation thermal chuck system that exclusively uses air for cooling.

Features from the AirCool and AirCool plus systems are integrated into a modular system designed to be quickly  upgradeable on site. All major wafer prober systems can be fitted with the AirCool 3.

Modular options include zero footprint applications and semi-remote touch-panel control.

ERS makes thermal chucks for wafer test. Learn more at http://www.ers-gmbh.de/ers-gmbh/index.php.

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October 14, 2011 — Steven J. Adamson, marketing specialist with dispensing/coating/jetting equipment maker Nordson ASYMTEK, received the Daniel C. Hughes, Jr., Memorial Award, for the greatest contribution to IMAPS and the microelectronics packaging industry, including technical and service contributions.

The International Microelectronics And Packaging Society (IMAPS) is dedicated to the advancement and growth of microelectronics and electronics packaging. Adamson received the award during the IMAPS conference in Long Beach, CA this week.

Adamson chaired the San Diego IMAPS chapter for 2 years, was general chairman of the 2006 International Symposium on Microelectronics, and served as IMAPS president in 2008. In 2009, he volunteered to be chairman of the IMAPS Microelectronic Foundation, which helps students and academia participate in IMAPS activities through grants and awards. In 2010, Adamson received the IMAPS President’s Award.

Adamson accepted the award with an acknowledgement of the importance of IMAPS to students — with funding, paper publicity, event travel — and the importance of students to IMAPS.

Adamson is a 30+ year veteran in microelectronics assembly, working at Nordson ASYMTEK since 1998, as well as time at Kodak, Motorola, PLessey, International Computers Ltd.

Bio:
Adamson has held positions at Nordson Asymtek as applications engineering manager, and marketing specialist. He has worked in all aspects of packaging and assembly from R&D to manufacturing, designing multi-chip modules, hybrid circuits, printed circuit boards, thermal printed heads, and magneto-resistive head assemblies. He has delivered technical papers on wire bond encapsulation, chip scale package and flip chip assembly, PCB design rules, and reliability and has had papers published in leading industry trade journals both domestically and internationally. He is co-author with Charles Harper on a book titled, "Handbook of Plastic Processes," published by McGraw-Hill.

Adamson previously held positions with Kodak, Motorola in the U.S., and Plessey, International Computers Ltd in the U.K.  He has been awarded five US and two UK patents. In 2005 he was presented with an award by the San Diego Engineering Council for "Outstanding Service to Electrical Engineering". Originally from the U.K., he holds a Higher National Certificate in Electrical Engineering from Stockport College of Technology and for several years was the lead instructor and advisor to the University of California San Diego (UCSD) extension course on Microelectronic and Optical Packaging.  

IMAPS leads the microelectronics packaging, interconnect and assembly community, providing means of communicating, educating and interacting at all levels. Find out more at www.imaps.org.

Nordson ASYMTEK makes precision automated fluid dispensing, conformal coating, and jetting technologies. For more information, visit NordsonASYMTEK.com

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October 13, 2011 — SEMI honored Dr. Tibor Pavelka (Semilab) with the European SEMI Award; Heinz Kundert (SEMI Europe) with the IC Industry Award for Excellence; and Christian Prischmann (UIbrich) with the SEMI Europe Standards Leadership Award. The ceremony took place during SEMICON Europa, which wraps up today in Dresden, Germany.

Also read: SEMICON Europa 2011: Hopes for 2012 growth, no room for gloom

Dr. Tibor Pavelka, CEO of Semilab Co. Ltd., received the European SEMI Award 2011 for proving that a European metrology company could compete with US and Asian makers. Pavelka co-founded Semilab, became CEO in 1995, and led R&D activities until recently. He helped expand the metrology lines to 32, adding optical and other new electrical material characterization techniques alongside DLTS and

October 11, 2011 – PRNewswire — EV Group (EVG) and All Silicon System Integration Dresden (ASSID) of Fraunhofer IZM will jointly develop high-volume 3D IC manufacturing processes, focusing on temporary bonding and debonding processes to support chip-to-wafer bonding with up to 600um-thick topographies.

ASSID will host the collaboration with its 300mm 3D manufacturing/packaging line in Dresden, using EVG850 TB/DB systems already installed there. The partners will also use ASSID test samples and demonstrator materials. EVG will contribute 3D IC fab tool and process expertise. ASSID’s established network with other research institutes and universities can be used to verify viability of new developments.

Chip-to-wafer bonding allows manufacturers to test die prior to 3D bonding, resolving low-yield wastage associated with bad die. Also, heterogeneous technologies (different sizes, feature dimensions, etc.) can be bonded in 3D die stacks with a broad range of functionality (logic, memory, mixed signal, photonics, etc.) in a compact form factor.

Today’s advanced temporary bonding/debonding processes support bonded wafer topographies up to 100um thick. More complex die structures require thicker wafers. EVG and ASSID will work on improving rigid backgrinding support during wafer thinning and low-vertical-force debonding to avoid defects during debonding.

ASSID also announced today that it has installed an Altatech Semiconductor 300mm CVD system for advanced TSV fab.

Fraunhofer IZM-ASSID is tasked with developing 3D packaging technologies, including new interconnect and assembly processes. As part of the Fraunhofer IZM Institute, which specializes in transferring IC advanced packaging and system integration research results to industry, ASSID is integrated into a technology network of applied research institutes and universities.

EV Group (EVG) makes wafer-processing tools for semiconductor, MEMS and nanotechnology applications. More information is available at www.EVGroup.com.

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October 11, 2011 — All Silicon System Integration Dresden (ASSID), a microelectronics packaging center under the Fraunhofer IZM Institute, installed a single-wafer, multi-chamber AltaCVD 300 from Altatech Semiconductor in its 970sq.m. Dresden cleanroom.

ASSID started pilot production of 3D ICs using the 300mm chemical vapor deposition (CVD) tool. The AltaCVD 300 deposits conformal dielectric liners inside through silicon vias (TSV) in die stacks for 3D ICs and system-in-packages (SiP). TSV aspect ratios are up to 10:1, with hole diameters as small as 10

October 7, 2011 — DuPont Microcircuit Materials, part of DuPont Electronics & Communications, uncrated its DuPont GreenTape 9K5 low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) packaging material, offering good dielectric constant properties for higher speed, frequency, and reliability applications.

GreenTape 9K5 suits LTCC antennas within high-speed, high-reliability subsystems, such as automotive radar and other 50GHz+ applications. GreenTape 9K5 LTCC has a dielectric constant of 5.80 (at 10 GHz), compatible with the commercial DuPont GreenTape 9K7 LTCC System. Full commercial rollout will occur next year.

At IMAPS 2011, DuPont will showcase the product and present on LTCC dielectric characterization for high-frequency microwave and millimeter-wave packaging.

"Introducing the DuPont GreenTape 9K5 LTCC System with Low Dielectric Constant," will be presented on October 12, during the Ceramic and LTCC Packaging I Session (WA3) of IMAPS 2011. Deepukumar M. Nair, applications development manager, will present initial characterization of the new DuPont GreenTape 9K5 LTCC system consisting of low-k dielectric tape, gold and silver conductors to evaluate the effects of chemistry, processing conditions, processing latitude, microstructure and microwave performance. Test coupons with various transmission and resonating structures are designed, fabricated, and tested for the evaluation of transmission losses and dielectric properties. Stability of the material system over multiple re-fire steps is also examined. Nair also will present "Bulk and In-Circuit Dielectric Characterization of LTCC Tape Systems Through Millimeter Wave Frequency Range," as part of the Ceramic and LTCC Packaging II Session (WP3) on the same day.

DuPont Microcircuit Materials develops and manufactures specialized thick film compositions for electronic applications in the automotive, display, photovoltaic, biomedical, industrial, military and telecommunications markets. It is part of the global materials supplier DuPont (NYSE:DD). For more information on DuPont Microcircuit Materials, visit http://mcm.dupont.com.

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October 6, 2011 — Test equipment provider Multitest installed a MT9928 XM Gravity Test Handler at a semiconductor production facility after a 1-year+ benchmarking against two major competitors.

Customer benchmarking included an off-line evaluation phase as well as real production package test. The job includes multi-site test handling of leaded and leadless semiconductor packages. The production facility installed the MT9928 XM due to its excellent jam rate and fast package conversion, even between leaded and leadless package types.

Multitest improved test yield at the site, replacing competitor