Category Archives: Packaging and Testing

Within the photolithography equipment market reaching $150M in 2014, advanced packaging applications experienced the strongest growth. Yole Développement (Yole)estimates that more than 40 systems have been installed in 2014, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) representing 10 percent between 2014 and 2020. In the meanwhile, MEMS photolithography equipment looks set for 7 percent CAGR and LEDs 3 percent.

Yole released last month its technology & market analysis dedicated to the manufacturing process, photolithography. Under this analysis entitled “Photolithography Equipment & Materials for Advanced Packaging, MEMS and LED Applications”, the “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting company proposes a comprehensive overview of the equipment and materials market dedicated to the photolithography step. Yole’s analysts performed a special focus on the advanced packaging area. They highlighted the following topics: current and emerging lithography technologies, technical specifications, challenges and technology trends, market forecast between 2014 and 2020, market shares and some case studies.

yole packaging july

“The advanced packaging market is very interesting and is growing dynamically as it includes many different players along the supply chain,” said Claire Troadec, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole. It encompasses outsourced assembly at test firms (OSATs), integrated manufacturers (IDMs), MEMS foundries and mid-stage foundries.
In comparison, even if the MEMS & Sensors industry is growing at a fast pace, components are also experiencing die size reduction due to strong cost pressure in the consumer market. Consequently wafer shipments are not following the same trend as unit shipments. Lastly, LED equipment growth is back to a normal rhythm, after big investments made in recent years.

Advanced packaging has very complex technical specifications. Warpage handling as well as heterogeneous materials represent big challenges to photolithography. Due to aggressive resolution targets in advanced packaging, performance must be improved. The current minimum resolution required is below 5µm for some advanced packaging platforms, like 3D integrated circuits, 2.5D interposers, and wafer level chip scale packaging (WLCSP). A lot of effort is being made to reduce overlay issues due to shifting dies and obtain vertical sidewalls for flip-chip and WLCSP. Although steppers are already well established in the packaging field, new disruptive lithography technologies are also emerging and could contribute to market growth from 2015-2016.

“Huge business opportunities in the advanced packaging market are therefore driving photolithography equipment demand,” highlighted Amandine Pizzagalli, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole. “Given the high growth rate of this market, there is no doubt that already established photolithography players and new entrants will be attracted,” she added.

yole packaging july fig 2

Market revenues associated with network communications, sensing, and control functions in subsystems and objects attached to the Internet of Things (IoT) are forecast to grow 29 percent in 2015 to $62.4 billion after increasing 21 percent in 2014 to about $48.4 billion, according to data in IC Insights’ recently released Update to its 2015 IC Market Drivers Report.  Figure 1 provides a breakout of sales growth in five IoT market categories, based on IC Insights’ updated forecast.

wearable sensors IC

 

IC Insights raised its projection for IoT-related revenues in 2015 to show much stronger growth in wearable systems after the formal launch of Apple’s first smartwatches in April 2015.  The long-term fate of smartwatches continues to be debated.  Whether these wearable systems evolve into a major end-use market category or simply become a niche with a short lifecycle remains to be seen.  In the short-term, however, the launch of the Apple Watch—jam-packed with ICs, sensors, and other components—has provided a major boost to semiconductor unit shipments and sales to the wearable IoT category.

Total IoT-related revenues (excluding Internet servers, network infrastructure, and cloud-computing systems) are now expected to rise by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.1 percent from 2013 to 2018, reaching $104.1 billion at the end of the forecast period.

Worldwide growth of “things” connected to the Internet continues to significantly outpace the addition of human users to the World Wide Web, according to the IC Market Drivers Update.  New connections to the “Internet of Things” (IoT) are forecast to increase 40 percent in 2015 with 574 million new Internet connections expected to be attached to embedded systems, sensors, instruments, vehicles, controllers, cameras, wearable electronics, and other objects.  IoT connections grew to 410 million in 2014, which was a 45 percent increase from 282 million in 2013 (Figure 2).  The total installed base of connected things on the IoT is forecast to reach 13.2 billion units worldwide in 2015 versus about 3.1 billion humans using computers, cellphones, and other system applications over the Internet this year, based on IC Insights’ updated projections.  By the end of this decade, more than 25 billion systems and objects are expected to be attached to the Internet versus about 4.4 billion human users.

wearable sensors IC fig 2

Large-screen smartphones, with displays of 5 inches or greater and often called “phablets” (for phone/tablet hybrids), are on track to surpass worldwide shipments of tablet computers this year, according to IC Insights’ new Update to the 2015 IC Market Drivers report.  The Update’s forecast shows the popularity of extra-large smartphones continuing to gain momentum in the first half of 2015 with unit shipments now expected to reach 252 million this year, which is a 66 percent increase from 152 million sold in 2014 (Figure 1).  Strong growth in large smartphones is having a major impact on tablet unit sales, which are forecast to increase just 2 percent in 2015 to 238 million units.

Figure 1

Figure 1

IC Insights believes strong sales of large-screen smartphones will continue in the next three years while the tablet market struggles with low single-digit percentage growth through 2018.  The revised forecast shows large-screen smartphone shipments climbing by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40 percent between 2014 and 2018, while tablet unit shipments are expected to rise by a CAGR of just 3 percent in this four-year period.  Large-screen smartphones are having the biggest impact on mini tablets, which saw a rise in popularity in the past few years.  Mini tablets have 7- to 8.9-inch displays and typically run the same software as smartphones.

The phablet segment is expected to account for 17 percent of total smartphone shipments in 2015, which are forecast to be about 1.5 billion handsets.  The Update report shows phablets representing 21 percent of the 1.7 billion smartphones that are forecast to be shipped in 2016.  Phablet sales are projected to reach 30 percent of the nearly 2 billion total smartphones shipped in 2018, according to the Update of the 2015 IC Market Drivers report.

Tablet unit sales have nearly stalled out because incremental improvements in new models have not been enough to convince owners of existing systems to buy replacements.  More consumers are opting to buy new large-screen phablets instead using both a smartphone and tablet.  Large smartphones have gained traction because more handsets are being used for video applications (including streaming of TV programs and movies) in addition to Internet web browsing, video gaming, GPS navigation, and looking at digital photos.

The market for large-screen smartphones received a boost from Apple’s highly successful iPhone 6 Plus handset, which started shipping in September 2014 and continued to gain momentum in the first half of 2015.  Apple joined the phablet movement somewhat belatedly, but its 5.5-inch display iPhone 6 Plus smartphone played a major role in the company shipping 61.2 million iPhone handsets in 1Q15, which was a 40 percent increase over the same quarter in 2014.

Semiconductor equipment manufacturer ClassOne Technology announced that X-FAB — recently named “MEMS Foundry of the Year” — has just purchased a new Solstice S8 Electroplating System. The 8-chamber, fully-automated tool will be installed at the X-FAB facility in Erfurt, Germany.

“X-FAB selected ClassOne from a field of major equipment vendors after an in-depth evaluation that compared plating technology, price and overall value,” said Win Carpenter, ClassOne’s V.P. of Global Sales. “X-FAB was particularly interested in process performance, so our advanced and flexible chamber design gave ClassOne a strong advantage.”

“We see the MEMS market growing significantly,” said Kevin Witt, ClassOne’s V.P. of Technology. “However, one of the fundamental challenges is that MEMS users need to be cost sensitive, so they generally cannot afford the large, expensive tools that were developed for CMOS technology. This is why Solstice has become very attractive to many emerging markets like MEMS: It gives them the advanced processing technology they want at a price they can afford.”

ClassOne Technology introduced its Solstice family in 2014 as a high-performance yet cost-efficient electroplating solution for users of ≤200mm wafers, in MEMS and many other emerging markets. Solstice systems are priced at less than half of what similarly configured plating systems from the larger manufacturers would cost — which is why Solstice has been described as “Advanced Plating for the Rest of Us.” These tools can electroplate many different metals and alloys in a broad spectrum of processes, either on transparent or opaque substrates. Solstice models are available for development use as well as for fully-automated, cassette-to-cassette production, with throughput of up to 75 wph. ClassOne also supports customers with world-class process development, deployment and service around the globe.

X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries, with headquarters in Erfurt, Germany, is one of the industry’s leading analog/mixed-signal and MEMS foundry groups, manufacturing silicon wafers for automotive, industrial, consumer, medical and other applications. Its worldwide customers utilize X-FAB’s modular CMOS processes in geometries ranging from 1.0 to 0.18 µm, and its special BCD, SOI and MEMS long-lifetime processes. The company operates five production facilities in Germany, Malaysia and the U.S.

Imec and Holst Centre have developed a small NO2 sensor featuring a low power consumption in the mW range. The sensors have a low detection limit for NO2 (<10 ppb) and a fast response time. They are particularly well suited for air quality monitoring and serve as a solution to the increased demand for accurate local air quality monitoring for indoor and outdoor environments. The sensors are being tested in real-life situations, as part of an environmental monitoring platform.

While wearable technology that measures body parameters has become increasingly popular in recent years, the Intuitive Internet of Things (I2oT) is next on the horizon: connecting everybody and everything everywhere with data stored in the cloud, turning the massive amount of data in information to make the right decisions, to take the right actions exactly as we need or want. The I2oT is expected to manage the sustainability, complexity and safety of our world. It will increase our comfort and wellbeing in many ways.

Health issues resulting from poor air quality are a growing concern for consumers and accurate monitoring is becoming more and more in demand, for both outdoor and indoor environments.

Air quality is typically measured on just a few distinct locations per city, with specialized equipment. Many current gas sensors are large in size, have high power consumption and are too cost prohibitive to be implemented on a large scale for I2oT applications. Imec and Holst Centre have developed small, simple, low power and high quality autonomous sensors that wirelessly communicate with the environment and the cloud.

Imec and Holst Centre’s NO2 sensors were integrated in the Aireas air quality network, a multiple sensor network in the city center of Eindhoven (the Netherlands). The purpose was to test -in actual outdoor conditions and long term- the stability of the sensors, and benchmark them against established reference sensors. The sensors are operational since early May 2015 and contribute with valuable outdoor sensor data since then. During traffic rush hours, the sensors detect a significant increase of NO2 concentration up to the health safety limits.

Imec and Holst Centre are currently deploying a similar sensor network inside the Holst Centre building in Eindhoven to test the sensors for indoor air quality monitoring. This environmental monitoring platform today includes it proprietary NO2 sensor and commercial sensors for temperature, relative humidity and CO2. The measured levels can be monitored live, over the internet. In a next step, proprietary low-cost low-power sensors will be added for CO2, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), Ozone, and particle matter.

The generated sensor data are transferred to the cloud, stored in a database and immediately available on (mobile) applications, explained Kathleen Philips, director of imec’s perceptive systems for the intuitive internet of things R&D program.

“Data fusion methodology and advanced algorithms enable us to combine data from different sensors such as temperature, several gasses, humidity, human presence detection and to derive contextual knowledge. This information contributes to a correct interpretation of the situation and helps us to take adequate actions to solve the problem. In this way, we have developed a context-aware intuitive sensing system.”

Companies interested in early application validation and development for distributed IoT networks and/or in the innovative technology and circuits to realize them are invited to become a partner in our R&D program. IP can also be licensed.

Photo: NO2 sensor + network hardware for wireless sensor network

Photo: NO2 sensor + network hardware for wireless sensor network

United Microelectronics Corporation, a global semiconductor foundry, today announced it has collaborated with ARM to tape out a process qualification vehicle (PQV) test chip on UMC’s 14nm FinFET technology to help validate an ARM Cortex-A family core on the advanced foundry process node. The 14nm cooperation expands on the two companies’ successful effort to develop and offer ARM Artisan Physical IP on UMC’s volume production 28nm High-K/Metal Gate process.

The validation of the UMC 14nm FinFET process technology kickstarts the enablement process for the rest of IP ecosystem needed for UMC’s FinFET technology, including the need for foundation IP and ARM processor physical design.

“ARM and UMC share a long history of successful collaboration through multiple technology generations,” said Will Abbey, general manager, physical design group, ARM. “We are highly encouraged by the test chip tape-out of a Cortex-A family core using UMC’s 14nm FinFet process. ARM will continue its close partnership with UMC during the development of this advanced process node.”

“As UMC prepares to make available our 14nm FinFET process to customers, it is important that we build a strong design support foundation to enhance our overall 14nm platform offering,” said Steve Wang, vice president of UMC’s IP and Design Support division. “ARM is a world-leading provider of advanced IP for leading-edge processes and we are excited to expand upon our past successes with them to develop Artisan Physical IP and Cortex-based solutions for our 14nm technology.”

UMC’s 14nm FinFET process has already demonstrated favorable 128mb SRAM yields and is expected to be ready for customer tape-out by late 2015.

Fan-in WLP is experiencing continuous growth and attracting new applications, according to Yole Développement’s (Yole) latest report “Fan-in Wafer Level Packaging: Market & Technology Trends.” Indeed fan-in WLP technology confirms its presence on the semiconductor market with indisputable benefits linked to cost and form factor. Technology innovation continues and widens the sphere of possibilities of fan-in WLP solutions.
“Fan-in Wafer Level Packaging: Market & Technology Trends” report proposes a deep analysis of the fan-in WLP technology trends with a dedicated roadmap and an overview of latest technical innovations. Under this report, the “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting company, Yole, also reviews the potential disruptions including new market drivers, infrastructure, expanding business models, new entries, competing packaging solutions, and analyzes the impact on the supply chain.

Although seemingly out of the spotlight, fan-in Wafer Level Packages (WLP) remain a highly important and constant presence with unmatchable advantages in cost and form factor. Fan-in WLP holds 16 percent of the total number of packages, while serving 4.4 percent of the wafer market at only 1.5 percent of the total semiconductor revenue.

“Fan-in WLP is forecasted to continue a stable growth, with a market of $5.3B in 2014 and a CAGR between 2014 and 2020 of 7 percent,” explained Andrej Ivankovic, Technology & Market Analyst, in the Advanced Packaging and Semiconductor Manufacturing team, at Yole. And he added: “The total wafer count in 300mm equivalent wafers is reaching 4 million with a projected CAGR of 8 percent while the unit number is found at 36 billion with a projected CAGR of 9 percent.”

Throughout the past few years, MEMS and CMOS image sensors have been increasing their share compared to analog, mixed signal and digital ICs and are now accounting for more than 50 percent of the total revenue.

The leading applications by wafer demand in the analog/mixed signal/digital domain are BT+WiFi+FM combos and RF transceivers followed by PMU, audio/video codecs, DC/DC converters, ESD/EMI IPD. MEMS devices are led by digital compasses, RF filters, accelerometers and gyroscopes. CMOS image sensors are strongly positioned in 2nd place by overall fan-in application rankings. In total 41 applications and their evolution are analyzed in more depth within Yole’s report. Yole’s data include breakdowns of MEMS, CMOS image sensors and analog, mixed signal and digital devices.

From a technology viewpoint, innovation continues in order to extend fan-in WLP capability, as summarized in Yole’s figure below.

fan in wlp fig 1

Click to view full size.

“Current bump pitch in high volume is mostly at 0.4mm with 0.35mm already present as well. Particular effort is being made to increase the die size and I/O count” says Santosh Kumar, Senior Technology & Market research analyst, Advanced Packaging and Semiconductor Manufacturing at Yole. Max I/O count in high volume is heading above 200 and announcements have been made for high volume production up to 800 I/Os. The die size sweet spot ranges up to 7mm x 7mm with 8mm x 8mm and 9mm x 9mm qualified and ready.

Yole’s technology & market analysis contains an in-depth analysis on the outlook for bump pitch, die size, I/O count, minimum line width/space, package thickness, RDL dielectric materials, who is developing which technology and the main challenges to be overcome for the evolution of fan-in technology. Fan-in WLP is still on track of technology innovation.

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By Yann Guillou, Business Development Manager, SEMI Europe

Based on a need expressed by MEMS industry actors and with their strong support, SEMI has chosen to transform its MEMS Networking Tech Seminar and the MEMS Industry Forum of SEMICON Europa into a much larger, combined conference/exhibition event called the European MEMS Summit, giving actors in MEMS a worthy stage to showcase and talk about technology, business and applications. The first edition of this Summit will take place on September 17-18, 2015 in Milan, Italy and its theme will be “Sensing the Planet, MEMS for Life.”

With a stellar lineup of speakers, SEMI is hoping to cover the spectrum of issues pressing the MEMS industry today. The two-day program will be broken up into five segments, one dealing with the market and business, another with MEMS technology and three sessions appealing to the application of MEMS technology in consumer goods and wearables, the automotive industry and the Internet of Things.

Keynote speakers will include high-level representatives of MEMS giants Bosch Sensortec and STMicroelectronics as well as the largest MEMS fabless, InvenSense, and the largest IC foundry, TSMC. Be ready to hear “Smart” “Things” about “Sensors” and “MEMS” during their presentations titled:

  • Smart Systems for IoT, STMicroelectronics
  • Building Smart Sensors for a Connected World, TSMC
  • Internet of Sensors, InvenSense
  • MEMS Sensors: Enabler for the IOT, Bosch Sensortec

Attendees will leave the Summit with a better understanding of the evolution of MEMS in the marketplace and of the technological advances in MEMS and sensors.

MEMS foundries such as X-FAB and Tronics Microsystems will share their perspectives about the new challenges facing the industry and business opportunities. Focusing on the dynamics in China, SITRI will explain why it is critical to build a domestic MEMS business and will invite companies to revisit the Chinese market as a strategic element in their global business strategy.

Technology-wise, Yole Developpement will inform attendees about what to expect in the near future and how MEMS are contributing to sensing our world. Continuing with a technology focus, LETI will present the key emerging enabling technologies for MEMS they are developing. Focusing on thin film PZT materials, STMicroelectronics will explain how promising these materials are for actuators, opening a complete new field of applications. Covering packaging, ASE will address the integration aspect with flexible integration solutions enabling cost effecting HVM solutions.

The application sessions will give attendees an in-depth view of the new realm of opportunities open to those who develop MEMS technology. ARM will explain their strategy for IoT. Sensirion will describe the key success factors, addressing for instance the monolithic integration to enhance the miniaturization of the sensors. ams AG will present brand-new achievements in environmental sensor products while Infineon will talk about innovation in sensors for consumer products. IHS will highlight the changes in the automotive MEMS market and supplier landscape. Freescale and a few other companies will present their perspectives on this changing automotive landscape.

In addition, the event will present attendees with a chance to network in a dynamic and professional setting tailored to executives and engineers working in and for the MEMS industry. Milan will definitively be the city to visit in 2015 with the European MEMS Summit and the Universal Exposition taking place in the capital of Lombardi.

Rudolph Technologies, Inc. announced today that the MEMS company, Robert Bosch GmbH, has selected Rudolph to supply several different configurations of its F30 Inspection System for various steps in the front- and back-end fabrication processes of micro electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) devices. This win represents increasing business with tools beginning to ship in the second quarter 2015.

“We are thrilled that Bosch selected Rudolph’s inspection solutions for a variety of critical consumer goods and automotive applications,” said Mike Goodrich, vice president and general manager of Rudolph’s Inspection Business Unit. “The configurability of one base tool paired with a variety of high volume manufacturing (HVM)-proven handling options provides Bosch with the flexibility to apply these tools across numerous applications, improving overall tool utilization. Bosch’s challenge was handling the wide variety of substrates used in complex MEMS processes and we were able to meet their needs, providing handling solutions for frameless, ultrathin, film-frame and thicker non-traditional substrates.”

The MEMS industry is expanding, according to Yole Développement, and Bosch has experienced noteworthy growth in the past years. Zero defects is critical for the MEMS application of automotive sensors. The F30 system’s high speed and high sensitivity give the ability to free up expensive micro tools and focus on throughput and sampling inspection.

“A critical deciding factor for Bosch was the fact that Rudolph goes beyond traditional inspection by not only detecting defects but automatically classifying data so customers can quickly eliminate the source of the defect,” Goodrich added. “Our integrated software solutions will help Bosch meet the stringent automotive quality standards by enabling full characterization of the inspection data, resulting in high productivity and demonstrable quality.”

“It is rewarding to see that our customers value the R&D investments we made to elevate the value of our inspection solutions,” said Mike Plisinski, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Rudolph. “We see an increased demand for more intelligent process control solutions as pressure on quality and time-to-market continue to increase for our customers.”

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Fairchild, a supplier of high-performance semiconductor solutions, today launched the FIS1100 6-axis MEMS Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), the company’s first MEMS product stemming from its strategic investments in MEMS and motion tracking. The FIS1100 IMU integrates a proprietary AttitudeEngine motion processor with best-in-class 9-axis sensor fusion algorithms to provide designers with an easy to implement, system-level solution for superior user experiences with up to ten times lower processing power consumption in a wide range of motion enabled, battery-powered applications.

Fairchild's FIS1100 Intelligent IMU is an easy-to-implement, system-level motion tracking solution that can reduce processor power consumption by as much as 10x. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Fairchild’s FIS1100 Intelligent IMU is an easy-to-implement, system-level motion tracking solution that can reduce processor power consumption by as much as 10x. (Graphic: Business Wire)

“The launch of Fairchild’s first MEMS product is a key milestone for the company as we take our unique design and manufacturing expertise and apply it towards system-level solutions that go beyond power,” said Fairchild Chairman & CEO Mark Thompson. “The advanced algorithms and deep applications know-how from the Xsens acquisition position us well in enabling our customers to develop advanced motion solutions in diverse, quickly growing segments within markets such as consumer, industrial, and health.”

The FIS1100 IMU, with its built in AttitudeEngine motion processor and XKF3 senor fusion, is a low power, highly accurate system solution that provides customers with the always-on sensor technology required for a range of application such as wearable sensors for sports, fitness, and health; pedestrian navigation; autonomous robots; and virtual and augmented reality.

“Motion tracking in consumer devices has expanded rapidly from game interfaces and smartphones into many new Internet of Moving Things applications,” said Jérémie Bouchaud, director and senior principal analyst, MEMS & Sensors, at IHS. “As designers look to differentiate their products with motion, the availability of an IMU with an integrated motion processor and a complete software solution, accelerates time to market while ensuring the best trade-off between competing goals such as small size, long battery life and motion tracking accuracy.”

The AttitudeEngine processes 6-axis inertial data at a high rate internally and outputs to the host processor at a lower rate matching the application needs, eliminating the necessity for high-frequency interrupts. This allows the system processor to remain in sleep-mode longer, providing consumers longer battery life without any compromises in functionality or accuracy. The bundled XKF3 high-performance 9-axis sensor fusion algorithms combine inertial sensor data from the on-chip gyroscopes and accelerometers and data from an external magnetometer. The sensor fusion also includes background auto calibration that enables excellent performance in terms of accuracy, consistency, and fluidity. When combined with the XKF3 sensor fusion algorithms, the FIS1100 is the world’s first complete consumer inertial measurement unit with orientation (quaternion) specifications, featuring pitch and roll accuracy of ±3° and yaw accuracy of ±5°.

The FIS1100 uses Fairchild’s proprietary MEMS process, designed specifically for inertial sensors. The process features several design elements for optimal performance, size and robustness. These include a 60µm device layer with high-aspect ratio, through silicon via (TSV) interconnects and vertical electrodes, as well as a single die gyroscope and accelerometer with a unique dual vacuum design.