Category Archives: Packaging

Today at OFC/NFOEC, Kotura, Inc. announced an agreement with a large semiconductor foundry as well as relationships with strategic partners, semiconductor solutions provider Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. and laser supplier BinOptics Corporation. These partnerships will provide Kotura with an effective supply chain to commercialize Kotura’s 100G Optical Engine — a key component in the just-announced industry-first 100 gigabits per second (Gb/s) 4×25 WDM, QSFP+ module.

Kotura will leverage the capabilities of the outside foundry partner for high-volume production of its optical engine — a low-power, integrated, 100 Gb/s chip solution that supports the interconnect fabric for next generation data centers and high performance computing.

"Our silicon photonics solutions resolve price, performance and reliability issues not currently being addressed by existing approaches," said Jean-Louis Malinge, Kotura president and CEO. "In a world full of applications with pressing bandwidth and performance needs, there is tremendous opportunity for silicon photonics to heed the call, starting with the data center market as our primary target. This foundry partnership offers Kotura the fastest and most reliable path to mass production and the ability to scale to meet this demand."

The partnership with Mindspeed enables Kotura to meet the low-power requirements of the QSFP package.

"The market wants a QSFP package because of the small footprint," said Marek Tlalka, director product marketing at Mindspeed. "Integrating 25G quad drivers and TIAs can be quite a challenge. By combining our high-speed, low-power electronics and Kotura’s silicon photonics optical engine, we can meet the stringent power consumption constraints of a 100 Gb/s WDM QSFP module."

Kotura partnered with BinOptics to develop laser arrays, which can be passively flip-chip bonded onto Kotura’s Optical Engine, producing a high-volume, low-cost, electronics-style assembly.

"BinOptics’ Etched Facet Technology allows III-V photonic device facets to be formed with lithographic precision, enabling low-cost passive alignment with silicon photonics," said Dr. Alex Behfar, CEO and co-founder, BinOptics Corporation. "Eliminating active alignment is one of the key ingredients for economical, large-scale rollout of silicon photonics based 100 Gb/s solutions."

 

FlipChip International (FCI), a developer of flip chip bumping, Wafer Level and embedded die packaging and EZconn Czech a.s. announced a partnership agreement today.  FCI will provide sales and marketing services to promote and leverage EZconn’s packaging technologies and services based in their Trutnov facility in the Czech Republic, thereby extending support for leading edge wafer level bumping and module assembly. EZconn will also support FCI’s advanced packaging roadmap for 2.5D and 3D WLCSP and flip chip solutions for its global customers with this Partnership.

This strategic partnership will provide a platform for the promotion of the EZconn Czech a.s. Wafer Level Micro Assembly Technology and Services including volume production of customer specific micro-modules, optical diodes and transceivers of all kinds.

"We are excited about this partnership which combines EZconn’s advanced wafer level assembly technologies with FCI’s Wafer Level Packaging technologies creating a unique capability for next generation 2.5D and 3D packaging," Bob Forcier, FCI President and CEO said, "The technology crossovers of these two technologies will enable further reductions in the Z axis and X-Y axis mechanical envelopes which is paramount to our mutual customers quest for miniaturization of their products in a variety of global markets."

"We are very pleased to enhance and extend our product portfolio with this partnership with FCI," Petr Tauchman, EZconn Czech a.s. Managing Director, said. "There are synergies in our respective Product and Technology Roadmaps that will provide excellent advanced packaging solutions for our customers."

It’s no secret: the past five years for the IC industry have been full of challenges. From 2007-2013, the IC market grew at an average annual rate of only 2.1%. One of the speakers slated to speak at The ConFab 2013 in Las Vegas has good reason to believe the IC industry is set to emerge from this difficult cycle.

President of IC Insights, Inc.Solid State Technology is pleased to have Bill McClean on their line-up of speakers for The ConFab 2013. McClean is the president of IC Insights, Inc., where he serves at the managing editor of the company’s market and research studies and reports.

“In IC Insights’ opinion, the “bottom” of the current cycle in the worldwide economy and IC industry was reached in 2012 and 2013 will mark the beginning of the next cyclical upturn—one in which the IC industry CAGR will more than triple to 7.4% in the next five-year period,” McClean writes in his abstract. “Overall, semiconductor industry cycles are becoming increasingly tied to the health of the worldwide economy. While poor semiconductor industry growth has occurred during periods of strong worldwide economic growth, primarily due to semiconductor industry overcapacity and the resulting IC price declines, it is rare to have strong semiconductor industry growth without at least a ‘good’ worldwide economy to support it. Thus, over the next five years, annual global semiconductor market growth rates are expected to gain significant momentum and closely mirror the performance of the worldwide economy.”

McClean began his market research career in the integrated circuit industry in 1980 and founded IC Insights in 1997.   During his 33 years of tracking the IC industry, McClean has specialized in market and technology trend forecasting and was responsible for developing the IC industry cycle model.  In addition, he instructs for IC Insights’ seminars and has been a guest speaker at many important annual conferences held worldwide (e.g., SEMI’s ISS and Electronic Materials Conferences, The China Electronics Conference, and The European Microelectronics Summit).  Mr. McClean received his Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and an Associate degree in Aviation from the University of Illinois.

To register for this event and learn more about our speakers, please visit The ConFab section of our website.

In 2012, global PCB industry saw a jump in terms of output value, benefitting in a large part from the rapid growth in the shipment of Apple and Samsung, up 7.0% over 2011 to $62.4 billion, according to Research and Markets’ report Global and Chinese Advanced Rigid PCB Industry Report, 2012-2013. It was not always the truth for the full-blown PCB industry. However, there is no such possibility of a huge jump in 2013, as the report states the expected growth rate will slow down to 2.7%. For most rigid PCB vendors, it was doomed for them to face revenue dive in 2012 unless both Samsung and Apple were included in their client lists, while in 2013 their revenue is likely to drop even if Apple is among the clients.

The big acquisition event in 2012 was Viasystems’ takeover of America-based PCB producer DDI at a cost of $267 million in June. In 2011, DDI’s revenue reached $263 million, and its net income hit USD25 million.

In 2012, two massive fire accidents took place in PCB industry. One happened in April to the Changshu plant under Gold Circuit Electronics, the other was in September, with the sufferer coming to the Guangzhou plant under Viasystems. In Feb.2013, South Korean SIMMTECH was also on fire. PCB industry is vulnerable to fire accidents which break out twice annually at least. This leads to the natural reduction of capacity, balancing out the supply and demand.

In 2012, ZDT under Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co., Ltd. performed better, due to sizeable orders from Apple, the largest client. As a result, the revenue of ZDT witnessed huge jump, especially its revenue from flexible PCB. Hannstar PCB, as the world’s largest notebook PCB vendor, saw a substantial surge in revenue following the fire accident inflicting Gold Circuit Electronics, its largest rival.

SEMCO saw big rise in orders thanks to its parent company Samsung which won considerable orders, and COMPEQ also did a good job due to the growing orders from the big client Apple. However, Nanya PCB dwarfed in this regard, since its failure to get orders from the big client Intel for one quarter long. And it was the same story for LG INNOTEK, the mobile phone shipment of whose big client LG presented a steep drop. As for counterparts in Mainland China, they leveled out in this regard.

Cisco Systems is preparing for a major shift in the industry, as the Internet of Things starts to become a reality. At an annual press event in San Jose, California this week, Cisco officials claimed that the much-anticipated IoT industry could be a $14 trillion opportunity, and they are ready to embrace the change.

Rob Lloyd, president of sales and development at Cisco, told the press that he believes as many as 50 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020, from which, he believes, the $14 trillion business opportunity will stem. The trend will create business opportunities initially in manufacturing, but extend into government, energy and health care, he said, as sensors will become part of traffic systems, hospitals, refineries and other civil and business infrastructures. These opportunities will extend far beyond today’s budgets for computer and communication systems.

An ambitious plan for Cisco, though some might recall that Cisco’s CEO has announced this plan before. Last year, John Chambers, Cisco’s chairman and chief executive, told the press that he expects the company will experience a shift in customers, handling government and large businesses’ projects such as designing and managing systems for clean water or efficient traffic.

“The first 10 years (of the commercial Internet) were really about transactions, and the last 10 were about interactions,” Padmasree Warrior, Cisco’s chief technology and strategy officer, told the press this week. “The next 10 is about processes being more efficient.”

However, the IoT space is already presenting plenty of challenges. Cisco is working with utilities worldwide in the hopes that 10 million smart meters will be deployed by the end of the year, supporting IoT protocol. Cisco has already deployed about $180 billion worth of network equipment into the world, Warrior said, and will build hardware and software that interacts efficiently with the legacy gear, so new kinds of intelligent systems can be quickly deployed.

What do you know about the Internet of Things? Do you think it’s all hype or a real opportunity? Let us know what you think in the comment section below. Comments posted on Solid State Technology articles will not automatically be posted to your social media account unless you select to share.

 

OneChip Photonics this week revealed strategic, outsourcing plans to expand into new markets, with announcements of newly-established relationships with semiconductor foundry GCS and wafer supplier IQE. Both announcements related to OneChip’s bigger, strategic plan to expand its services into the high-volume DCI market.

OneChip first announced that it is working with Global Communication Semiconductors (GCS), an ISO-certified pure-play compound wafer foundry. Under their fabless model, OneChip, based in Ottawa, Canada, has been working with GCS to process its OneChip-designed 4-inch InP-based wafers.  GCS will be providing an array of InP wafer processing services to OneChip, which OneChip will use to produce its photonic integrated circuits for the data center interconnect (DCI) and passive optical network (PON) markets.

“GCS is the most advanced, pure-play foundry of its kind, which offers indium phosphide and high-volume RF electronics processing technologies,” said Valery Tolstikhin, founder and CTO of OneChip Photonics. “Working with GCS gives us the commercial, high-volume processing capability we need to meet the strict cost requirements of the DCI and PON markets.”

OneChip believes that GCS’s foundry services, with its opto and heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) processes in indium phosphide, is an ideal match for their fabless model, which is built around its regrowth-free PIC platform. Because GCS’s opto and HBT and OneChip’s PIC technologies share the same process, the same fabrication process will be used to integrate both electronic and photonic pieces on one substrate.

“Our InP-based Opto and RFIC process technologies have great synergies with OneChip’s PIC technology,” Brian Ann, CEO of GCS, said. “We believe OneChip is a company that can create a truly volume business for photonics in the DCI market, with the unique ability to combine PICs and electronics to create the first optoelectronic circuits in InP.”

This market requires 100Gbps+ solutions with higher interface density and longer reach than those within the reach of currently deployed systems in 0.85um and multi-mode fibers. The DCI market also requires lower cost and power consumption than the solutions offered by the traditional telecom component vendors, which leads to the second of OneChip’s announcements.

OneChip announced plans to partner with IQE, using their epitaxial growth services to produce its InP PICs for the DCI and PON markets. IQE is an independent provider of III-V semiconductor epitaxy services, to grow the epitaxial (epi) structure, which OneChip will use to produce its PICs. IQE uses advanced crystal growth technology (epitaxy) to manufacture and supply bespoke semiconductor wafers “epi-wafers” to the major chip manufacturing companies, who then use these wafers to make the chips, which form the key components of virtually all high-technology systems.

“The iron-doped, semi-insulating 4-inch InP substrates, and the metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) growth technique, required for OneChip’s epi-wafers, are the same as those used by IQE for its high-volume epitaxy products, so we have strong economies of scale in working together.,” said Tolstikhin. “IQE is recognized as a leading independent, pure-play epi-wafer foundry, which not only provides world-class services, but also perfectly fits into our fabless PIC manufacturing model.”

OneChip’s regrowth-free multi-guide vertical integration, or MGVI, platform eliminates the need for multiple epitaxial growth steps. This will enable OneChip to decouple epitaxial growth and wafer processing, while outsourcing both functions to GCS and IQE.

“OneChip has developed some exciting new integrated photonics products for the high-volume, but cost-sensitive, optical communications markets,” said Drew Nelson, president and CEO of IQE. “We are delighted to apply our unique high-volume manufacturing expertise in producing InP-based epi-wafers for OneChip’s innovative PIC technology. OneChip’s use of the fabless manufacturing approach further endorses IQE’s outsourcing business model in the field of photonic devices, and we look forward to helping OneChip continue to scale its business as it extends its unique PIC technology to new markets.”

What do you think of OneChip Photonics’ outsourcing plans? Use one of your social media accounts to login and share your thoughts in the comment section below. Comments on Solid State Technology articles will not automatically be posted to your social media accounts unless you select to share.

Seven O-S-D product categories and device groups reached record-high sales in 2012 compared to 14 new records being set in 2011, according to data shown in the 2013 edition of IC Insights’ O-S-D Report, A Market Analysis and Forecast for Optoelectronics, Sensors/Actuators, and Discretes.  Figure 1 shows that in 2012, two sales records were achieved in optoelectronics, four in sensors/actuators (including total sensor sales), and one in discretes.  Ten new sales records are expected to be set in the O-S-D markets in 2013.  All the products shown in Figure 1 are forecast to grow by moderate percentages in 2013, which will lift them again to new record-high levels.  Total sales of MEMS-based products are expected in rise 9% in 2013 and reach a new annual record of $7.6 billion, surpassing the current peak of $7.1 billion set in 2011.

O-S-D products record sales 2012

With sales in the much larger IC segment falling 4% in 2012, O-S-D’s share of total semiconductor revenues grew to 19% in 2012 versus 18% in 2011 and 14% in 2002.  O-S-D’s marketshare of total semiconductor sales in 2012 was the highest it’s been since 1991.

Key findings and forecasts in the 2013 O-S-D Report include:

CMOS image sensors were the fastest growing O-S-D product category in 2012 with sales rising 22% to a new record-high $7.1 billion, blowing past the previous peak of $5.8 billion set in 2011. Since the 2009 downturn year, CMOS image sensor sales have climbed 85% due to the strong growth of embedded cameras used in smartphones and portable computers (including tablets) and the expansion of digital imaging into more systems applications. CMOS designs are now grabbing large chunks of marketshare from CCD image sensors, which are forecast to see revenues decline by a CAGR of 2.4% between 2012 and 2017.  Sales of CMOS imaging devices are projected to grow by a CAGR of about 12.0% in the forecast period and account for 85% of the total image sensor market versus 15% for CCDs in 2017.  This compares to a 60/40 split in 2009.

High-brightness LED revenues climbed 20% in 2012 to nearly $9.5 billion and are expected to hit the $20.0 billion level in 2017, with annual sales growing by a CAGR of 16% in the next five years. That’s the good news, but of immediate concern is whether new solid-state lighting applications are growing fast enough to consume the large amounts of production capacity being added worldwide in LED wafer fabs—especially in China.  Solid-state lighting’s main growth engine in recent years—backlighting in LCD televisions and computer screens—is slowing, and the multi-billion dollar question is whether the next wave of applications (e.g., LED light bulbs, new interior and exterior lighting systems, digital signs and billboards, automotive headlamps, long-lasting street lights, and other uses) can keep the industry ahead of a potential glut in high-brightness lamp devices.

About 81% of the sensor/actuator market’s sales in 2012 came from semiconductor products built with MEMS technology.  Sensors accounted for 52% of MEMS-based device sales in 2012, while actuators were 48% of the total.   A 10% drop in actuator sales in 2012 lowered total revenues for MEMS-based devices to $7.0 billion from the current peak of $7.1 billion in 2011.  By 2017, MEMS-based sensors and actuators are projected to reach $13.5 billion in sales, which will be a CAGR increase of 14.0% from 2012, and unit shipments are expected to grow by a CAGR of 17.4% in the next five years to 9.7 billion devices.  MEMS manufacturing continues to move into the mainstream IC foundry segment, which will open more capacity to fabless companies and larger suppliers. TSMC, GlobalFoundries, UMC, and SMIC all have increased investments to expand their presence in MEMS production using 200mm wafers.

Among the strongest growth drivers covered in the O-S-D Report are: high-brightness LEDs for solid-state lighting applications; laser transmitters for high-speed optical networks; MEMS-based acceleration/yaw sensors for highly adaptive embedded control in cellphones, tablet computers, and consumer products; CMOS imaging devices for automobiles, machine vision, medical, and new human-recognition interfaces; and a range of power transistors for energy-saving electronics and battery management.

 Now in its eighth annual edition, the 2013 O-S-D Report contains a detailed forecast of sales, unit shipments, and selling prices for more than 30 individual product types and categories through 2017.

 

Solid State Technology is proud to announce that Yoon-Woo Lee will be speaking at The ConFab 2013. The event will be held June 23-26, 2013 at The Encore at The Wynn in Las Vegas. Lee is the Executive Advisor of Samsung Electronics.

Lee’s presentation reviews what is currently happening in the IT industry and suggests strategies of collaboration within the industry. Technology is advancing rapidly in various sectors, basically driven by semiconductors that have strived toward greater performance, lower power, and smaller form through relentless migration, he says in his abstract.

“What is now important,” he writes, “is enriching the end user experience with a view on the entire value chain of the ecosystem. This is especially true as the IT revolution is now spilling over into other cutting edge fields like bio, nano, energy, and the environment. Collaboration is also critical in intra-regional trade and development. Countries will need to lower risk and boost efficiency through closer cooperation along the supply chain, forging alliances, devising common standards, and undertaking joint R&D.”

Prior to his current position Lee served as Vice Chairman and CEO from May 2008 to December 2009; Chairman of the Board of Directors from May 2008 to December 2010; and Vice Chairman from December 2010 to December 2011. An engineer and 40-year veteran of Samsung, Lee’s leadership and in-depth technology expertise have helped build Samsung into the world’s largest electronics company. He is widely credited with the success of Samsung’s Semiconductor Business and implementing policies and training programs that have earned Samsung the reputation of being the best company to work for in Korea.

Lee has been with Samsung since 1968. He served as the Managing Director of Giheung’s main semiconductor plant operations in 1987, and was appointed as the President of Samsung’s Semiconductor Business in 1996. Demonstrating his business acumen in a dynamic and fast-paced semiconductor industry, he successfully implemented diversification strategies that allowed the Semiconductor Business to navigate through cyclical market downturns while increasing market share, year after year. In 2004, Lee was promoted to Vice Chairman in charge of Global Collaboration, and also was appointed Head of the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology. In 2005, he became Chief Technology Officer, responsible for planning mid- to long-term strategies for promoting new business development based on cutting-edge technologies.

Lee serves in numerous industry leadership positions including Vice Chairman of Seoul Chamber Commerce & Industry, Vice Chairman of Korea-Japan Economic Association, and Vice Chairman of Korea Business Council for Sustainable Development. In 2005, he was honored by the Korea Management Institute as CEO of the Year. Mr. Lee graduated from Seoul National University with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.

For more information on or to register for The ConFab 2013, visit The ConFab section of our website.

Intel semiconductor market inventory declineAfter reaching a worrisome high in the third quarter of 2012, global semiconductor inventories held by chip suppliers fell at a surprisingly fast rate in the fourth quarter, led by dramatic reductions for market leader Intel Corp.

Days of Inventory (DOI) for semiconductor suppliers in the fourth quarter declined by 5 percent compared to the third quarter—higher than the 1.5% initially forecast, according to an IHS iSuppli Supply Chain Inventory Market Brief from information and analytics provider IHS. Meanwhile, inventory value in dollar terms fell almost 5%—larger than the originally projected 3%.

“Semiconductor companies reduced their inventories at a faster-than-expected rate in the fourth quarter as they moved to adjust to weakening demand,” said Sharon Stiefel, analyst for semiconductor market intelligence at IHS. “Many chip suppliers demonstrated great agility in their reactions to the drop in demand. No. 1 semiconductor supplier Intel Corp. was the most aggressive, cutting its stockpiles by more than half a billion dollars—the largest decrease on a dollar basis of any chipmaker.”

Cutting inventories down to size

Among semiconductor suppliers that reduced their inventory levels between the third and fourth quarters last year, the percentage of decrease ranged from 5% to 25%, resulting in chip stockpile value of $60 million to nearly $600 million being shaved off in the companies affected, as shown in the attached table. And while inventory climbed in some companies during the same period, the spread was smaller, with the value of the increase worth slightly north of $40 million to approximately $250 million.

In the table and numbers cited in this release, memory suppliers are excluded from DOI and inventory value calculations because they report results much later than any other group in the semiconductor supply chain.

The rest of the companies covered effectively straddle the breadth of the semiconductor chain, including those engaged in the wireless, automotive, data processing and industrial segments.

Intel leads inventory liquidation

The largest decrease in inventory value during the fourth quarter belonged to Intel, down $585 million from the third quarter, representing an 11% reduction. The company made aggressive moves to cut stockpiles. It also reduced production as it migrated to a new process technology: 14-nanometer lithography.

AMD and STMicroelectronics also experienced large inventory declines of $182 million and $131 million, respectively, or 25% and 9%. In the case of AMD, inventory shrank for its microprocessors as a result of an amended wafer supply agreement with GlobalFoundries for reduced stockpiles. For its part, STMicroelectronics cut utilization rates after exiting its money-losing joint venture with Ericsson.

Two other chip suppliers had notable inventory drawdowns: Texas Instruments, down $91 million or 5%, due to weak end-market demand for its chips; and ON Semiconductor, down $63 million or 10%, as it burned bridge inventory and coped with reduced revenue.

Among inventory gainers, most faulted low seasonality and an uncertain global economy for a rise in chip stockpiles. Companies in this group included MediaTek, up $58 million or 14%; NXP Semiconductors, up $44 million or 7%; and Infineon Technologies, up $43 million or 6%.

Qualcomm bucks the trend

The one exception among gainers that could boast of a strong performance that was linked to an increase in chip inventory levels was Qualcomm, up $247 million or 24%. Given the strong market acceptance of its wireless chips in products like the Apple iPhone and iPad, Qualcomm is ramping up production and inventories in order to meet demand.

Semiconductor suppliers will be positioning their inventories in the first quarter this year to prepare for anticipated demand. Inventories are expected to rise in response to slightly positive global economic indicators as well as favorable semiconductor and end-equipment forecasts—unless major swings occur once more from the larger suppliers that could then end up skewing the industry.

EV Group, a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced that it has installed a fully automated 300mm system from EVG’s Gemini product family of integrated wafer bonding clusters to a leading Chinese semiconductor foundry. This customer will use the system for 3D IC integration and advanced packaging—two high-volume applications for which EVG’s wafer bonding solutions are frequently used.

"This order from one of the largest Chinese foundries further cements EV Group’s position as the market and technology leader in wafer bonding for leading-edge applications," stated Hermann Waltl, executive sales and customer support director at EV Group. "China is an important market for us, and this order is further testament to our continued success in penetrating leading high-volume microelectronics manufacturers in China—from advanced substrate suppliers to light emitting diode (LED) and semiconductor device makers."

EVG won this order following a competitive bid with other leading process equipment suppliers.  Reasons cited by the customer for choosing EVG included high alignment accuracy, comprehensive process development and support, successful demo results in EVG cleanrooms, unmatched expertise in wafer bonding and other high-volume process solutions, and a technology roadmap that is strongly aligned with that of the customer. 

The EVG Gemini is a fully automated and integrated platform for wafer conditioning, wafer-to-wafer alignment and wafer bonding.  This highly modular design provides customers with a highly flexible solution that can integrate all of EVG’s technology solutions in one platform with minimized footprint.  Configurations can include the option of EVG’s clean modules, low temperature plasma activation modules, SmartView align modules with integrated bond capability, as well as dedicated bond modules.