Category Archives: Online Magazines

Design, assembly, inspection and repair personnel have a new tool to help improve reliability of ball grid arrays (BGAs) and fine-pitch ball grid arrays (FBGAs) in high density applications, thanks to the newly released C revision of IPC-7095, Design and Assembly Process Implementation for BGAs.

Published by IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries and developed with input from representatives from OEMs, fabricators, EMS companies and others in the electronics manufacturing industry, IPC-7095C addresses design and process considerations of particular importance to portable handheld products in which BGAs are a dominant interconnection technology.

 “Handheld products continue to shrink. At the same time, alloys, ball shape and attachment procedures are evolving,” says Ray Prasad of Prasad Consultancy Group, who helped spearhead development of the document. “That combination presents some unique challenges to product reliability that the new revision of IPC-7095 seeks to solve.”

A notable addition to the revised document is its inclusion of expanded information on mechanical failure issues such as PCB pad cratering or laminate defects that occur after assembly. In addition to providing guidelines for BGA inspection and repair, IPC-7095C addresses reliability issues and the use of lead-free joint criteria associated with BGAs. It also features numerous photographs of X-ray and endoscope illustrations to identify various defect conditions such as head on pillow, an incomplete and unreliable condition that can occur during BGA assembly processes.

Assumed failure mechanism for "head-on-pillow," also known as "head-in-pillow." Source: Renesas

IPC-7095C, Design and Assembly Process Implementation for BGAs, is 165 pages long. IPC members may purchase a hard copy of the document for $55; the industry price is $110. Single-user, site and global licenses are also available. For more information or to purchase a copy of IPC-7095C, visit www.ipc.org/7095.

KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) announced the eS805, a new electron-beam inspection system capable of detecting very small defects, and defects that cause electrical problems such as opens, shorts or reliability issues. The eS805 is also designed to provide supplementary information to the fab’s optical inspection systems, with the goal of boosting the ability of the optical inspectors to preferentially capture defects that matter.

Bobby Bell, executive vice president of KLA-Tencor’s Wafer Inspection Group, said: "We believe that optical inspection will continue as the dominant defect inspection approach; its speed is essential for adequate wafer coverage, and our engineers have demonstrated some impressive ideas for stretching optical sensitivity to meet our customers’ anticipated requirements. Electron-beam inspection will continue to complement optical inspection as needed..”

The high performance of the new eS805 is driven by the following advances:

  • New image computer, new auto-focus subsystem, and higher beam current densities than other commercially available systems, enabling detection of buried electrical defects in "voltage contrast" ("VC") mode over relatively large areas of the die;
  • Architecture designed to elicit significant signal from defects hidden at the bottom of high aspect ratio (HAR) structures such as FinFETs and 3D flash; and
  • Advanced algorithms that, together with the new image computer and auto-focus system, enable efficient capture of small defects within non-periodic structures, such as logic areas of the cell.

The eS805 is upgradeable from any previous eS3x or eS8xx-series e-beam inspection system.

New eS805 e-beam inspection systems have been shipped to leading logic and memory chip manufacturers, where they are being used to upgrade existing e-beam inspection capability or to fulfill requirements for additional inspection capacity in advanced development and production lines. To maintain high performance and productivity, the eS805 tools are backed by KLA-Tencor’s global, comprehensive service network. 

STATS ChipPAC Ltd. (SGX-ST: STATSChP) and United Microelectronics Corp. (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) announced the world’s first demonstration of TSV-enabled 3D IC chip stacking technology developed under an open ecosystem collaboration. The 3D chip stack, consisting of a wide I/O memory test chip stacked upon a TSV-embedded 28nm processor test chip, successfully reached a major milestone on package-level reliability assessment.

"The next level of chip integration is rapidly evolving, and 3D IC technology is poised to enable the next frontier of IC capabilities for customers under various deployment models," said Shim Il Kwon, VP of Technology Innovation of STATS ChipPAC.

S.C. Chien, vice president of Advanced Technology Development at UMC, said, "We see no imperative to restrict 3D IC to a captive business model, as UMC’s development work with nearly all the major OSAT partners for 3D IC has been very productive. Our successful collaboration with a leading OSAT partner like STATS ChipPAC has further established the viability of an open ecosystem approach. This model should work especially well for our mutual 3D IC customers, as foundry and OSAT can utilize their respective core strengths during development and delivery, while customers can benefit from keeping supply chain management flexible and realize better transparency over technology access compared to closed, captive 3D IC business models."

Under the 3D IC open development project with STATS ChipPAC, UMC provides the FEOL wafer manufacturing, with a foundry grade fine pitch, high density TSV process that can be seamlessly integrated with UMC’s 28nm poly SiON process flow. The know-how developed will be applied towards implementation on the foundry’s 28nm High-K/metal gate process. For MEOL and BEOL, STATS ChipPAC performs the wafer thinning, wafer backside integration, fine pitch copper pillar bump and precision chip-to-chip 3D stacking.

The touch panel market is growing rapidly due to the increasing sale of smartphones and tablet PCs. The touch panel market size in 2012 was 1.3 billion units, a 39.4% growth over 2011. The market is projected to grow 34% in 2013, growing to more than 1.8 billion units, according to a new research report from Displaybank.

Source: Displaybank, "Touch Panel Market Forecast and Cost/Issue/Industry Analysis for 2013"

Smartphone and tablet PCs, major applications that use touch panels, are expected to continue to grow at a high rate. In addition, most IT devices that use display panels have either switched to or will start using the touch panels soon. Therefore the touch panel market will show a double digit growth annually until 2016, by unit. The market size is expected to reach more than 2.75 billion units by 2016.

With the explosion in the sale of smartphones and tablet PCs during the past few years, our lives have changed dramatically. They are now common place in our lives, and have a huge influence in the IT industry in general. With the introduction of Windows 8 OS in October 2012, upsizing of touch panels has begun. The impact of this event on the immediate growth of the touch panel market and the long-term effect is so immense that it cannot be estimated at the moment.

The financial crisis that started in 2008 left much of the IT industry hobbling worldwide. But only the touch panel market is enjoying a boom. Many new players are pouring into the industry, and those on the sidelines are waiting for the opportune moment to enter. As more players enter the competitive landscape, touch panel prices are falling rapidly. In addition, to gain competitiveness and to differentiate itself in the market has led players to develop and improve structure, technique and process, and seek out new materials.

The introduction of Windows 8 is leading the increase in touch capable Notebook and AIO PCs. It is still too early for the touch interface to completely displace keyboard and mouse, but the touch functionality does add convenience to some operations. We are sure to see an increase in specialized apps that capitalize on such functions. Therefore, touch functions will complement traditional input methods. As the technology is still in early implementation stages, it is used only in select high-end Ultrabooks. But it’s only a matter of time before touch functions make its way to mid-end products.

Forecasting the future of touch panel industry is not only difficult, but also outright confusing in the current landscape due to the rapid expansion; the increase in number of devices that use touch panels; more players in the market; and rapid development of new products and new processes. Displaybank has released "Touch Panel Market Forecast and Cost/Issue/Industry Analysis for 2013" to provide industry outlook by application, product, and capacitive touch structure. The report also includes the supply chain of set makers and touch panel manufacturers; and cost analysis of major capacitive touch panels by size and type. This report will serve as a guide to bring clarity and understanding of rapidly transforming touch panel industry.

The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) announced the appointment of three new members to the GSA Board of Directors. The new members include David Baillie, chief executive officer, CamSemi; Jeff Waters, senior vice president and general manager, Altera Corporation; and Dr. Albert Wu, vice president of Operations, Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.

In his new position, Baillie has been appointed to represent emerging semiconductor companies.

David Baillie is chief executive officer of CamSemi and has over 25 years of international experience in general management, marketing, sales and technical roles. He has worked in successful start-ups that have grown to be established companies such as LSI Logic and C-Cube Microsystems where he initially established their European operations before taking on executive management roles in the USA with worldwide responsibility.

Jeff Waters from Altera will represent one of the semiconductor member positions. Altera has been a GSA member since 2006 and has held a board position since 2007. Altera is also a member of the GSA’s Technology Steering Committee.

Jeff Waters joined Altera Corporation in January 2012 and serves as senior vice president and general manager of the Military, Industrial and Computing Division. Prior to that, Mr. Waters was with Texas Instruments / National Semiconductor as product line vice president for the company’s Precision Signal Path Division. He was with National for 18 years in leadership positions including vice president of sales and marketing for Japan, and vice president of worldwide marketing, as well as a variety of marketing and engineering management roles in analog and microprocessors.

Dr. Albert Wu has rejoined the board and will serve as a semiconductor member. Dr. Wu has served on the GSA Board in the past, 2006 – 2009. Dr. Wu joined Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. in August 1998 as the director of manufacturing technology, supervising test development, product engineering, foundry operations, and assembly engineering activities. In November 2001, he was appointed vice president of operations of Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. Before joining Marvell, Dr. Wu served in key manufacturing technology roles in several companies, including Silicon Spice, Inc., Monolithic System Technologies, Inc. and ISSI, after leaving an R&D position at Intel Corp. Dr. Wu holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University and master of science and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) mission is to accelerate the growth and increase the return on invested capital of the global semiconductor industry by fostering a more effective ecosystem through collaboration, integration and innovation. It addresses the challenges within the supply chain including IP, EDA/design, wafer manufacturing, test and packaging to enable industry-wide solutions. Providing a platform for meaningful global collaboration, the Alliance identifies and articulates market opportunities, encourages and supports entrepreneurship, and provides members with comprehensive and unique market intelligence. Members include companies throughout the supply chain representing 25 countries across the globe. 

Renesas Electronics Corp. (TSE: 6723, Renesas) and J-Devices Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the transfer of the semiconductor back-end production business of three facilities operated by Renesas’ wholly owned manufacturing subsidiaries (the Hakodate Factory of Renesas Northern Japan Semiconductor, Inc. (Renesas Northern Japan), the Fukui Factory of Renesas Kansai Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (SKS), and the Kumamoto Factory of Renesas Kyushu Semiconductor Corp. (Renesas Kyushu)) and Renesas Northern Japan’s wholly owned subsidiary, Hokkai Electronics Co., Ltd. (Hokkai Electronics) to J-Devices.

This proposed transaction “aims at building a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship between the two companies as strategic partners in the semiconductor production business.” According to a press release.  The two companies plan to negotiate a final agreement and to complete the transfer in early June 2013.

The current employees of the transferred facilities will be “on loan” to J-Devices for a set period, under the premise that they will be reassigned to J-Devices on the basis of individual agreements in future. The Renesas products which will be manufactured at the facilities to be transferred will continue to be supplied by Renesas to customers with the quality, delivery schedules, service equal to or better than before even after the transfer.

In addition to the current seven facilities of J-Devices (Usuki, Oita Prefecture (Headquarters); Kitsuki, Oita Prefecture (Headquarters functions); Shibata-gun, Miyagi Prefecture; Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture; Miyawaka, Fukuoka Prefecture; Oita, Oita Prefecture; and Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture), the present transfer will add an additional three production facilities. This will make J-Devices one of the world’s top five OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) service providers.

At the same time, the advantages gained as a long-term strategic partner of Renesas, including larger business scale, fusion of technical capabilities, and expanded product lineup, will enable J-Devices to improve cost competitiveness, technical capabilities, and product quality, allowing it to contribute to the continued development of the semiconductor industry as a world-top-level OSAT service provider and also providing substantial benefits for customers.

Renesas Electronics Corp. lays claim as world’s number one supplier of microcontrollers, and also offers SoC solutions and a range of analog and power devices. Business operations began as Renesas Electronics in April 2010 through the integration of NEC Electronics Corp. and Renesas Technology Corp., with operations spanning research, development, design and manufacturing for a wide range of applications. Headquartered in Japan, Renesas Electronics has subsidiaries in 20 countries worldwide. More information can be found at .

J-Devices is one of the largest independent semiconductor assembly and test company in Japan with seven factories in Japan. The original company (named Nakaya Microdevices) was established in 1970 and offers a broad lineup of packages including thermally enhanced BGA, CMOS sensor, leadframe and other original packages. J-Devices offers skilled package development as well as the full turnkey "one stop" service such as wafer sort, assembly, and final testing for consumer and automotive product.

SEMI announced that Joung Cho (JC) Kim, chairman, Edwards Korea Limited, is the recipient of the 14th annual SEMI Sales and Marketing Excellence Award, inspired by the late Bob Graham. This award for outstanding contributions in semiconductor equipment and materials marketing was presented today to JC Kim during SEMICON Korea 2013 in Seoul.

Over his 30+ year career, JC Kim has had a major impact on the industry. In 1985, semiconductor manufacturers used rotary pumps. JC Kim introduced Fomblin oil from Italy to the Korean market, which reduced pump process problems and resulted in substantial process improvement, higher productivity and cost savings. He was also involved in marketing a new vacuum pump design, called the "Dry pump" and he demonstrated the pump’s value by providing overseas references and reliability data.  He persuaded manufacturers to try the dry pump on their production lines, contributing to higher productivity and a more stable process. In addition, he improved service efficiency for Dry pumps by establishing 24-hour/day on-site field service offices in or near customer fabs, preventing large production losses from process interruption. JC Kim continues to advocate for understanding the importance of vacuum p umps in semiconductor manufacturing and their considerable impact on semiconductor process development.

JC Kim is a champion for the development of the vacuum industry. He held the position of vice chairman of the Korea Vacuum Society (KVS) and chairman of the Korean Vacuum Research Association (KOVRA) from 2000 to 2004, serving as a bridge between industry and the academic world so that university vacuum R&D could be used in the semiconductor industry.  Also, in 2007, JC Kim became vice chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) which consists of 235 semiconductor industry related companies in Korea. In this role, he encouraged semiconductor business growth through vacuum industry development by active exchange of technology and information among KSIA members. He continues to build university-industry collaboration to connect technology and human resources from universities to semiconductor companies.
 
In July 2002, JC Kim was appointed to the SEMI Board of Directors, becoming vice chairman in 2008 and chairman in 2009.  He has provided the board with valuable guidance and direction — for tradeshows, executive events, emerging markets, EHS services and Standards — during some of the most complex times in SEMI’s history.

"JC’s unique sales and marketing leadership in vacuums and his contributions to various industry associations have made an indelible mark on the global semiconductor industry," said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. "Today, SEMI and its membership officially recognize JC for his contributions to the success of our industry."

The SEMI Sales and Marketing Excellence Award was inspired by the late Bob Graham, the distinguished semiconductor industry leader who was part of the founding team of Intel and who helped establish industry-leading companies Applied Materials and Novellus Systems.  The Award was established to honor individuals for the creation and/or implementation of marketing programs that enhance customer satisfaction and further the growth of the semiconductor equipment and materials industry.

Eligible candidates are nominated by their industry peers and are selected by an award committee. Previous recipients include: Art Zafiropoulo (2000), Jim Healy and Barry Rapozo (2001), Jerry Hutcheson and Ed Segal (2002), Steve "Shigeru" Nakayama (2003), Edward Braun (2004), Archie Hwang (2005), Aubrey C. (Bill) Tobey (2006), Richard Dyck (2007), Richard Hong (2008), Peter Hanley (2009), Martin Van Den Brink (2010), Franz Janker (2011) and Dan Hutcheson (2012).

Chip inventory held by semiconductor suppliers reached alarmingly high levels in the third quarter of 2012 amid weak market conditions, according to an IHS iSuppli Semiconductor Inventory Insider Market Brief from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).

Overall semiconductor revenue declined by 0.7 percent sequentially during the fourth quarter last year. The poor results came after inventory reached exceedingly high levels by the end of the third quarter in 2012, amounting to 49.3 percent of total semiconductor revenue—more elevated than at any point since the first quarter of 2006.

Chip stockpiles among semiconductor suppliers had actually gone down during the final two quarters of 2011, showing a promising drawdown, as depicted in the figure attached. But then inventories steadily ticked up again after that, reaching 47.5 percent of total revenue in the second quarter before hitting the current peak in the third—the latest time for which full figures are available.

The inventory level being measured refers to chip stockpiles specifically in the hands of semiconductor suppliers, not to inventory throughout the electronics supply chain. Chip level at the supplier level is then compared against combined revenue from a sample of 75 semiconductor supplier companies excluding memory, which is tracked separately because of that market’s typical late results. A low inventory-to-revenue ratio is preferable, given that higher levels indicate not only unsold stockpiles but also unrealized revenue tied up with the stagnant inventory.

 “The uncomfortably high level of inventory among semiconductor manufacturers of nearly all stripes is a result of key demand drivers failing to materialize,” said Sharon Stiefel, analyst for semiconductor market intelligence at IHS. “Demand for semiconductor devices has typically come from new products that consumers feel compelled to purchase. But going into the holiday season last year, no such new products marshaled enough impetus to overcome consumer fears about lingering economic woes. Two months prior to Christmas, consumer purchases of electronics had grown by only 0.7 percent, the worst performance since 2008.”

Also contributing to depressed conditions was the poor performance of the industry’s data processing segment, traditionally the largest user of semiconductors. In fact, mobile PCs were projected to decline in 2012 when final figures are tallied, toppled from dominance by media tablets. Ultrabooks and other ultrathin PCs, meanwhile, did not produce the demand for semiconductors originally expected as the year progressed.

Despite the collective rise in inventory stockpiles, some semiconductor segments performed better than others. For instance, with feature-rich smartphones and tablets taking the place of traditional PCs among consumers and eroding PC market share, the devices were anticipated to provide the strongest demand in the final quarter of 2012. As a result, semiconductor revenue for the wireless segment was expected to climb almost 4 percent. Semiconductor sectors benefiting from the tremendous growth of handsets and tablets included logic, analog and NAND flash memory, with those semiconductor channels refilling following strong shipments even into the beginning of this year.

The first quarter of 2013 likely will see growth in the industrial and automotive electronics segments. Other semiconductor markets, for their part, will overcome the seasonal decline normally expected at this time of year and then start to rebound around the second and third quarters. Such assumptions, however, rest on the even larger factor of the global economy, currently a volatile variable itself with no set outcome. If global economic forecasts perform according to positive expectations, semiconductor revenue could grow by 4 percent in the second quarter and by a very solid 9 percent in the third. However, if demand evaporates, semiconductor suppliers will find themselves in a deplorable oversupply situation, which would then lead to inventory write-downs throughout the year.

Dr. Zhihong Liu, Executive Chairman, ProPlus Design Solutions, San Jose, Calif., blogs about dealing with increased random variations and layout-dependent effects.

How to manage process variations or DFY (or variation-aware design) has been a hot topic in the past several years, ever since the industry started moving to 45nm and smaller geometries. Engineers are concerned about yield problems, especially 28nm. Moving forward, it will continue to be a major worry.

Process variations are becoming one of the biggest challenges that both process development engineers and circuit designers must deal with in advanced process nodes. The increased random variations and layout-dependent effects inevitably and significantly impact the yield of a chip. Therefore, these process effects must be physically understood and accurately modeled up front in SPICE models that can be used later by the circuit designers during various circuit design stages, including simulation and verification.

To reduce risks for low-yield wafer manufacturing and design re-spins or even re-design, accurate yield prediction and realistic design optimization between performance and yield are urgently needed. The keys here are the accurate statistical models and useful design tools with high prediction accuracy and superior simulation performance.

Traditionally, engineers selectively run process, voltage and temperature (PVT) corner analysis and Monte Carlo analysis. Unfortunately, the process information given by the foundry models are sometimes either too conservative or too optimistic, and the foundry models may be used inappropriately or incorrectly on an application-specific basis. Compounding the problem are selective corner models and Monte Carlo analysis approaches often employed by circuit designers may give limited information, giving them low confidence on the yield prediction and design optimization. As a result, the overall design efforts may lead to loose conclusions. What’s worse, the information and value given to circuit designers are, in fact, limited.

In another scenario, the variation model in the SPICE model library of a process design kit (PDK) is the only channel where designers can understand the complexity of variations and its relation to design. Its accuracy, completeness and quality can impact the final simulation and analysis results and confidence level. Having good model knowledge and properly using and applying it in the design flow offers increasing value, not to mention that improper usage of models may lead to deviated results.

Since the lack of integration can lead to a loose integration to simulators, one remedy would be to enhance the link between design and manufacturing by integrating modeling, simulation and statistical analysis software tools. A set of elements for yield analysis can make the yield analysis more reliable and realistic.

There are three key components for handling process variations for circuit designs, i.e., accurate SPICE models considering process variations, a fast and reliable statistical simulation engine and hardware-validated sampling technologies. Performance can be improved and the license cost can be reduced immediately with an integrated SPICE engine instead of using an external engine. Having none of those components can lead to a loss in accuracy and degradation in simulation performance as well.

The software solution should focus on how efficiently yield analysis can be done in two different areas: regular 3-sigma Monte Carlo runs for analog circuit designs and special High Sigma runs. For example, 5~6 sigma for memory designs.

An integrated flow could enable designers to better use foundry corner models or help them re-generate corners, representative of the applications to improve efficiency and confidence levels for PVT analysis. Another analysis tool needed for yield prediction is Monte Carlo, which requires good statistical models. An integrated SPICE engine and hardware validated sampling technologies help designers here as well because they make the DFY more practical and faster, yet accurate because SPICE accuracy is preserved and sampling technologies are validated.

Managing process variations is something the semiconductor industry needs to pay more attention to, while the design community and foundries need to work more collaboratively to expand on the foundry-fabless model. The answer could come by more closely linking design and manufacturing with a rich software suite of SPICE modeling, circuit simulation and statistical analysis tools.

memsstar Limited, a provider of etch and deposition equipment and technology solutions to manufacturers of semiconductors and micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS), announced two etch system order wins from new MEMS customers in Asia. memsstar recently shipped its memsstar R&D system to manufacturing customers in Korea and India for use in MEMS research and development, representing the first memsstar etch release system orders from these countries.

The R&D tool was selected by both customers for vapor phase isotropic etching of silicon for MEMS structures to support their new product development efforts. In addition to being suited to R&D applications, all memsstar’s processes are scalable for volume manufacturing using the same processing techniques, offering a process transfer and lower cost of ownership from R&D through to full scale production.

“Our proprietary memsstar systems are aggressively positioned for growth, delivering critical technological differentiators to customers engaged in MEMS etch release and surface coatings,” said Tony McKie, general manager of memsstar, Ltd. memsstar’s patented process is compatible with a wide range of metals — especially Al/alloy and other metals commonly used in MEMS mirrors and electrical contacts, while the single wafer processing platform offers excellent release etch repeatability with a wide process window to maximize performance and yield. memsstar¹s dry release etch process using hydrogen fluoride (HF), or xenon difluoride (XeF2), is unique because of its ability to eliminate stiction in a single process.