Finishing our look at the June 2013 ConFab packaging activities.

Amkor

Bob Lanzone, Sr VP of Engineering Solutions for Amkor, like the other OSATS sees smartphones and tablets driving the market moving forward.

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If you ever wondered who the key players were in each of the mobile phone IC functions, Lanzone used this enlightening slide from Gartner.

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Amkor’s update on Copper Pillar technology indicates an expected doubling in demand this year and continued expansion into “all flip chip products.”

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Their “TSV status” takes credit for being the first into production with TSMC and Xilinx.

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Looking at the 2.5D TSV & Interposer Supply Chain they see:

• High End Products : Networking, Servers

– Silicon interposers ; < 2um L/S, < 15nsec latency, > 25k μbumps per die

– Amkor is engaged with Foundries to deliver silicon interposers today

• Mid Range Products : Gaming, Graphics, HDTV, Adv. Tablets

– Silicon or Glass interposers ; < 3um L/S, < 25nsec latency, ~10k μbumps/die

– Not actively pursuing glass interposers yet as infrastructure still immature

• Lower Cost Products : Lower End Tablets, Smart Phones

–  Silicon, Glass or Laminate interposer ; < 8um L/S, low resistance, ~2k μbumps

– Must provide cost reduction path to enable this sector

– Working with laminate supply chain to enable

They are targeting 2014 for their “possum” stacking as shown below:

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Siliconware (SPIL)

In the presentation “The expanding Role of OSATS in the Era of System Integration,” Mike MA , VP of R&D for SPIL looked at the obstacles to 2.5/3D implementation and came up with the conclusion that cost is still a significant deterrent to all segments.

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He discusses the two current business models for 2.5D, which are the “foundry model” supported by TSMC and the “collaboration model” supported by GF and UMC. He now adds a third model “the OSAT turnkey model which is now supported by TSMC.

SPIL is the first OSAT to propose this OSAT centric model where the interposer is fabricated by the OSAT who then assembles and tests modules made with chips from multiple sources.  The impediment to this route in the past has been the lack of OSAT capability to fabricate the fine pitch interposers, which require dual damascene processing capability, which until now was only available in the foundries. SPIL has now announced the equipment for fine pitch interposer capability (>2 layers, 0.4-3um metal line width and 0.5um TSV ) has been purchased and is in place.

Ma indicates that while the foundries are not happy with this SPIL proposal, their customers, especially their fabless customers have been very supportive.  He feels the inherent lower cost structure of OSATS will have a positive impact on the 2.5/3D market which has been somewhat stagnant since the FPGA and memory product announcements in 2010.

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SPIL also announced a wafer level fan out (WLFO) program on 370 x 470mm organic based panels which they feel is a potential low cost solution for those with lower density interposer requirements.

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