Amkor and Toshiba form joint venture
10/01/2000
CHANDLER, ARIZ. - Amkor Technology and Toshiba Corporation's Semiconductor Company have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to establish a joint venture assembly and test operation located at Iwate Toshiba Electronics Co. Ltd. in Kitakami, Japan.
For Amkor, the joint venture affirms its position of leadership in contract semiconductor assembly and test with a strategic entrance into the Japanese market. For Toshiba, the alliance with Amkor will provide reduced capital requirements to meet its diversifying packaging needs, advanced packaging technology and lower costs.
 |
The joint venture will be formed from Iwate Toshiba's assembly and test operations, and will include manufacturing operations at two independent subcontracting assembly houses. These subcontractors will operate with equipment and materials consigned to them by the joint venture. Amkor will hold 60 percent ownership of the joint venture and manage the joint venture operations, including its relationship with the independent subcontractors.
The Iwate Toshiba wafer fab will be the initial customer when the joint venture begins before the end of the year. Sales to the joint venture are expected to be more than $300 million annually. The joint venture is set to operate for three years, after which it is anticipated that Amkor will buy out Toshiba's interest for a predetermined amount.
Amkor will market the services of the joint venture to all semiconductor manufacturers who need local assembly and test in Japan. Until now, Japan's integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) have used relatively little outsourcing for the country's $7.5 billion annual assembly and test requirements, relying primarily on their own internal, domestic operations.
"This is a landmark move for Amkor and for the contract packaging industry," said John Boruch, president and chief operation officer of Amkor. "We have been associated with Toshiba for many years, providing packaging and test services and working closely as a partner to develop leading-edge packages for Toshiba's semiconductor products."
Boruch went on to say that the venture "provides Amkor with an excellent platform to expand all of our business relationships in Japan, both with domestic supply and our offshore operations."
"Toshiba Semiconductor Company has enhanced its competitiveness through an extensive restructuring program," said Yasuo Morimoto, president and chief executive officer of Toshiba Semiconductor Co. "This joint venture with Amkor allows us to accelerate our strategy of focusing on design, process and wafer fabrication. We also expect the joint venture to draw on Amkor's marketing strength to expand its business and to become one of the leading back-end plants in the world. The program makes a positive and welcome contribution to reinforcing our overall position in the semiconductor business."
Amkor will augment the technology and manufacturing capability available at the joint venture operations to offer leading-edge packaging and test solutions in the Japanese market. Advanced ball grid array, chip scale, and flip chip packages, along with system-in-package multi-chip modules, will be prioritized to meet the needs of the rapidly growing and evolving Japanese mobile communications market and other sectors.
Upon establishment of the joint venture, Toshiba will contract some employees now working in the Iwate assembly and test operations to the joint venture. At the end of the three-year joint venture period, the workforce will be offered employment with Amkor on equivalent terms, including various incentive compensation programs.
Toshiba ranks second in Japan and third in the world in 1999 semiconductor revenues, according to a study released by IC Insights. The ultimate formation and structure of the joint venture is still subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements, as well as any necessary corporate and regulatory approvals.
In related news, Toshiba Corp. has announced integration of its serial 1 kilobit (Kb) electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (E2PROM) device into its ultra-small 8-pin (US8) packaging.
Toshiba developed this new device to meet the demand for smaller and thinner packages for portable electronic products, such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants. According to Peter Ikalowych, business development manager of the Small Signal Devices Business Unit at Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC), "Anticipating the continued demand for shrinking real estate, Toshiba plans to develop and offer additional devices in this ultra-small packaging."
Serial E2PROMs are used in the recording identification data arena, making them ideal for hand-held devices needing an abundance of storage. According to Dataquest/GartnerGroup, the Serial E2PROM market was approximately $1 billion in 1999 and is growing by 10 percent each year.
Mass production of the new devices will begin in October 2000.
Industry's first 32-bit configurable SoC family
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. - Triscend Corp., a leading provider of configurable system-on-chip (CSoC) devices for the communications market, has introduced the A7 - the industry's first 32-bit CSoC family. The A7 family consists of four devices, all of which incorporate the ARM7TDMI processor core from Sharp. A CSoC is a single-chip combination of an industry-standard microprocessor, embedded programmable logic, memory and a dedicated system bus. Triscend CSoC devices provide a high degree of system-level integration and user-configurability, making them particularly suited for communications designs, which need significant design flexibility and fast time-to-market.
Triscend also has announced partnerships with Wind River Inc. and Embedded Performance Inc. (EPI) to provide customers with a comprehensive and advanced embedded development solution specifically utilizing the A7.
"Triscend excels at delivering time-to-market solutions. We demonstrated this with the E5, and we're doing it again with the A7," said Stanley Yang, Triscend's president and CEO. "By leveraging the expertise of our new partners, Wind River and EPI, and with the momentum of support for the ARM7TDMI core, we provide our customers not only with silicon but also the complete embedded development solution they need to rapidly take a product to market."
"Triscend's A7 Configurable System-on-chip enables ARM to significantly increase its presence in the mainstream standard parts market, offering an innovatively efficient configurable design with multimedia capability," said Mike Muller, executive vice president of business development for ARM. "Triscend, through their work with ARM technology partner Sharp, has introduced an ARM powered product that provides an increased level of customer creation for competitive solutions in applications including networking, imaging and consumer entertainment."
The FastChip CSoC development system is a powerful environment for designing, implementing and debugging embedded systems with Triscend CSoC devices. FastChip features a simple user interface and works seamlessly with ARM, third party EDA and processor development tools, easily fitting into existing design flows. FastChip includes a library of user-parameterizable soft logic modules that can be added to the configurable system logic by "dragging and dropping." FastChip also provides for powerful system-level, real-time, in-system debugging. FastChip also includes a tutorial and on-line help.
Customers can evaluate the A7 and prototype CSoC designs using the A7 development kit, which will be available in 00Q4 through Triscend's distributors. The development kit will include the A7 evaluation board, a fully licensed version of FastChip, and evaluation version of Wind River's visionCLICK, and the visionPROBE II JTAG download and debug cable.
Speedline partners with Manncorp
FRANKLIN, MASS. - Speedline Technologies has partnered with Manncorp to supply electronics assembly equipment to customers with low-volume/prototype manufacturing needs. Manncorp will sell a variety of Speedline equipment, including the SPM and UP100 stencil printers from Speedline MPM, the 1414 dispenser from Speedline Camalot, and the Bravo reflow oven and Astrapak wave solder machine from Speedline Electrovert.
Under the agreement, Manncorp will offer the Speedline machines under its current product names and integrate the equipment in turnkey configurations for small to mid-size OEMs, contract manufacturers and research facilities working in SMT board assembly.
Speedline and Manncorp are among the companies that supply electronics manufacturing equipment to the Electronics Manufacturing Productivity Facility (EMPF). Located in Philadelphia, EMPF operates as a service to the electronics industry under the direction of the not-for-profit American Competitiveness Institute to conduct training, on-site demonstrations, testing, research and development on electronic manufacturing equipment.
NEMI's lead-free project moves forward
HERNDON, VA. - The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) has announced that Texas Instruments has joined the consortium's Lead-free Assembly Project. In addition, the project's alloy group is launching a campaign to solicit information from university research programs to help build a database for the tin/silver/copper alloy (Sn3.9Ag0.6Cu), which NEMI has recommended as a standard replacement for tin/lead solder.
Texas Instruments' primary area of interest is the project's components group, which is active on several fronts. Currently, the group is working with the Interconnection Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to evaluate surface finishes and laminate materials for printed wiring boards (PWBs) used in lead-free electronics assemblies. ITRI is assessing test vehicles to determine the finishes and laminates most compatible with lead-free solder. Results are expected this fall.
The components group also will be ranking cost-effective lead-free component/PWB terminations (based on compatibility with the recommended lead-free solder system) and plans to provide testing for specific components and PWBs to assess their reliability. In addition, the group will work with JEDEC, IPC and other related standards bodies to adapt standards that reflect processing parameters associated with the use of lead-free solder and high-temperature rated components and PWBs.
In addition to Texas Instruments, participants in NEMI's project include Alcatel CID, Alpha Metals, Celestica, ChipPAC, Compaq Computer, CTS, Delphi Delco Electronics Systems, Eastman Kodak, FCI Electronics, Heraeus, IBM, Integrated Electronic Engineering Center at SUNY-Binghamton, Indium, Intel, ITRI, Johnson Manufacturing, Kester Solder, Lucent Technologies, Motorola, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), SCI Systems, Shipley Ronal, Solectron, Storage Technology, Universal Instruments and Vitronics Soltec.
The project's alloy group is building a database on the recommended SnAgCu solder and is contacting university-based research programs for information in two key areas. First, the group needs additional data on the mechanical/materials behavior of the alloy and, second, is looking for data on a wider range of lead-free alloy properties that NIST will assemble into a publicly available database.
Carol Handwerker, leader of the alloy group and chief of NIST's metallurgy division, said, "We see our role as that of a clearinghouse for data. We have already pulled together information from a number of sources and are developing a database that can be used by industry. In contacting university programs, we hope to not only identify additional data to be used, but also to encourage new research in this area."
Gel-Pak acquires SPT Inc.
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. - Gel-Pak has recently announced the acquisition of Silicon Packaging Technology Inc. (SPT) of San Diego, a manufacturer of prototype plastic packaging for semiconductors. The acquisition has been renamed Quik-Pak and is now a division of Gel-Pak.
The Quik-Pak product allows quick turn design verification of a new IC device in a plastic package that is mechanically and electrically identical to the final production part. Utilizing patented open cavity package technology, Quik-Pak is able to provide unlimited plastic package configurations for prototype and low-volume applications.
 |
This capability is especially attractive to ASIC and custom device manufacturers who are anxious to verify first article performance where time-to-market is critical. The Quik-Pak technology is important to RF manufacturers who need to test device orientation within a production equivalent package to optimize performance.
Typically, new device design verification is done using a substitute ceramic package. Quik-Pak eliminates potentially costly and time-consuming modification to test setups and ensures that the new device is assembled in an electrically identical package the same day that silicon comes out of the wafer fab.
Under the terms of the agreement, Gel-Pak will purchase all of the assets, and certain liabilities, of SPT in a cash and equity transaction. All employees of SPT will remain with Gel-Pak.
Numerical acquires Cadabra
SAN JOSE, CALIF. - Numerical Technologies Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cadabra Design Automation Inc., a leading provider of automated cell creation technology used to create the building blocks for standard cell, semi-custom and custom integrated circuits (ICs). The acquisition will facilitate the mainstream deployment of Numerical's subwavelength technologies for IC production, and increase the number of designs enabled for Numerical's phase-shifting technology.
"As the semiconductor industry moves further into the subwavelength realm, designers must have access to subwavelength technology much earlier in the design process; as a result, the requirements for layout creation fundamentally change," said Y.C. (Buno) Pati, president and CEO of Numerical. "This acquisition enables us to meet those needs and lead an emerging market that is critical for subwavelength IC production. It also adds a key technology to our portfolio that will accelerate the delivery of our next generation phase-shifting solution."
As consideration for the acquisition, Numerical will issue 3.2 million shares and options of Numerical Technologies stock. Cadabra will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Numerical.
The acquisition will be accounted for as a purchase and is expected to be accretive as early as the first quarter in 2001.
Sunny forecast for wafer-level packaging
SURREY, UK - In 1999, 20 million wafer-level packages were consumed worldwide. BPA Consulting Ltd. has recently forecast that, by 2004, the demand will increase to 410 million units.
As with other integrated circuit (IC) packaging technologies, the motivations to use wafer-level packaging have been compelling because manufacturers are able to assemble, test and conduct burn-in processes at the wafer level. This offers many commercial and technological advantages to companies involved in IC packaging and system development by providing the ability to incorporate additional functionality and wiring while significantly reducing the cost of the package.
 |
Despite its advantages, there are significant limitations and infrastructure development issues that need to be addressed before many potential users will invest in this technology. BPA has completed a multi-client study that addresses these limitations, projecting where and when the different types of wafer-level packages might be used. The study includes detailed technology roadmaps for all major classifications of wafer-level packaging - redistribution, molded metal post, interposer and compliant spring types (1999 to 2004).
The study identifies several factors that are crucial to the success of wafer-level packaging and its acceptance within the industry worldwide. These include application-dependent limitations, test and burn-in processes, high-density substrates, and the decision to be made by the semiconductor house of direct investment vs. partnership with a packaging house.
The future of wafer-level packaging and its position among other packaging technologies is contained in BPA's study entitled "Wafer Level Packaging - A View of the Future, 1999-2004." For more information, contact Sarah Demmon, marketing manager, at 44-1306-875500 or [email protected]. AP
Two new deals for K&S
WILLOW GROVE, PA. - Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. and Amkor Technology Inc. have announced a 10-year technology transfer agreement between Amkor and Flip Chip Technologies LLC (FCT). FCT is a joint venture of K&S and Delphi Delco Electronics Systems.
Amkor will use FCT's proprietary Flex-on-Cap wafer bumping and redistribution technologies to manufacture advanced flip chip IC packages for both performance and form-factor driven applications. Amkor currently outsources wafer bumping for high-performance flip chip packages through FCT's Phoenix-based facilities. Amkor plans to add wafer bumping capability to its Korean factory.
The key elements of the technology transfer agreement will provide Amkor with future technology development, second sourcing, redistribution capability, and opportunities for cost and cycle time reduction by locating bump manufacturing close to the assembly and test production lines.
According to Amkor corporate vice president of operations Bruce Freyman, the FCT process is cost-effective and delivers high yields. "Kulicke & Soffa has long been a key supplier of assembly equipment for wire bonded ICs, and we look forward to expanding our relationship to add FCT's technology to Amkor's portfolio of leading-edge packaging solutions," said Freyman.
K&S has also recently announced an agreement with TRW, under which TRW Integrated Supply Chain Solutions will provide installation, training, technical support and project engineering services for K&S factory automation products on a worldwide basis.
Movers and shakers
People
 Kent Howard |
Kent Howard has joined Balluff Inc., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, as president and chief executive officer
Omron Electronics has announced Mark Kuklinski as chief financial officer; Jeff Meyers as system control group product marketing manager; and Don Sondermann as programmable controllers product marketing manager.
American Microsystems Inc., Pocatello, Idaho, has appointed Michael C. Reilly to the newly created position of treasurer.
 Jack Isselmann |
has been appointed general counsel of Electro Scientific Industries, Portland, Ore.
Villach, Austria-based SEZ America has appointed Susan Jones as chief operating officer.
Johnstech International Corp., Minneapolis, Minn., has named Wayne Olson as corporate quality manager, Jim Adley as research and development manager, and Beverley Barnes as product manager.
Camdenton, Mo.-based Speedline Technologies, Electrovert Division has named Azhar Qureshi as business unit manager of reflow products.
KLA-Tencor Corp., San Jose, Calif., has appointed H. Raymond Bingham and Robert T. Bond to its board of directors.
Linwood J. Goddard III has joined Express Manufacturing, Santa Ana, Calif., as quality control manager.
Signetics High Technology Inc., San Jose, Calif., has named Jim Laite as vice president of sales for the Eastern region.
Companies
Advanced Ceramics Corp. is now doing business in its $30 million, 250,000-square-foot world headquarters in Strongsville, Ohio.
ST Assembly Test Services, Singapore, has expanded manufacturing capacity by an additional 80,000 square feet of Class 10K cleanroom space, costing approximately $5 million for facilitization works; this increases STATS' total operational area by a third to over 300,000 square feet.
Ultrasonic Systems Inc. has opened a 5,000-square-foot applications lab at its Amesbury, Mass., headquarters.
Genesis Systems Group, Davenport, Iowa, has earned the Capital Equipment Supplier of the Year Award from American Axle and Manufacturing.
Prent-Broadway, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, has received ISO 9002 certification.
IST America Corp. has relocated its headquarters from Fort Wayne, Ind., to 590 Territorial Dr., Unit A, Bolingbrook, IL 60440.
Haverhill, Mass.-based ViTechnology has opened a new facility in Fremont, Calif. that serves as the West Coast sales, service, training and demonstration center.
GPD, a division of LIFT Industries Inc., has completed phase one renovation of its product assembly facility at its headquarters in Grand Junction, Colo.
ECD Inc., Milwaukie, Ore., has signed a letter of intent to purchase Saunders Technology Inc. of Hollis, N.H.
ESEC, Phoenix, Ariz., has moved its Advanced Transfer operation to 2501 Schieffelin Rd., Suite 114, Apex, NC 27502.
Briefly speaking
Aegis partners with Machine Vision
Horsham, Pa.-based Aegis Industrial Software, developer of CircuitCAM CIM software, has announced an OEM agreement with Machine Vision Products, a worldwide provider of automated optical inspection solutions for PCB assembly. Under the agreement, Machine Vision will offer CircuitCAM to its customers for CAD, Gerber and ASCII/Centroid data conversion for its latest 1820 Ultra G AOI systems to allow for total integration into a CIM environment. CircuitCAM will aid in the importation of this data by automatically converting it unto a usable machine format.
Semiconbay.com makeover
Semiconbay.com has announced a redesign of its Web site, including a new logo and look, enhanced functionality, and the addition of financial, diffusion/implantation, assembly, test and packaging sections. New site demonstration and e-Commerce platform demonstration functions also have been added. Site users can monitor the activity of financial markets and their own stock portfolio using online quotes powered by Stockpoint.com. The new technology centers contain recent and in-depth subject matter specifically focused for that area. Key features for each section include current editorials, featured abstracts, technology news, technical papers, a listing of conferences and a figure of the week.
Pentagon acquires Chemetal
Pentagon Technologies (Fremont, Calif.) has made a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Chemetal Inc. (Hayward, Calif.). Chemetal is a provider of semiconductor and microelectronics fabrication equipment parts, cleaning and reconditioning services. This acquisition supports Pentagon's business strategy of offering yield enhancement and defect reduction solutions as third-party outsourced services provided by the company. Pentagon will purchase all of the assets and certain liabilities of Chemetal in a cash and equity transaction. The acquisition will be accounted for as a purchase and is expected to be complete in the third calendar quarter of 2000. Frank McBride will still reside as president and CEO of Pentagon while David Rossiter, president and CEO of Chemetal, will assume the newly created position of vice president of the Pentagon semiconductor parts group.
CS2 to manufacture PSGAs
Custom Silicon Configuration Services (CS2), Europe's leading array assembly and test foundry, will manufacture polymer stud grid array (PSGA) packages under a new agreement with Siemens.
The two companies have collaborated closely in the development of the technology, which Siemens began to commercialize just over a year ago following joint development with microelectronics research center IMEC. Since then, CS2 and Siemens have produced several outlines to suit a wide range of high-volume applications, primarily for the telecommunications and automotive markets.
Lightweight and lead-free by design, PSGAs offer higher reliability and smaller package dimensions, and are cost competitive when compared to laminate BGAs.
Loctite to acquire Dexter specialty polymers business
Loctite Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement with Dexter Corp. to purchase the company's California-based Electronic Materials, Adhesives, and Polymer Systems business for $400 million.
Dexter Electronic Materials is a leading broad-based, global manufacturer of specialty materials for the electronics industry, including HYSOL epoxy molding compounds, coating powder, high-performance liquid encapsulants, adhesives, and die attach products for the protection, packaging and assembly of semiconductor, electronic and electrical components. There is little overlap between the products offered by Dexter and Loctite.
Motorola licenses technology to Heraeus
Heraeus Inc., Circuit Materials Division, (West Conshohocken, Pa.) has signed a licensing agreement to produce Motorola's T2000 LTCC technology, a material system for microwave, wireless and automotive applications. Heraeus will manufacture the complete T2000 LTCC material system, including dielectric tape, capacitor dielectrics and conductors. T2000 offers the benefit of a zero temperature coefficient of frequency, ensuring consistent electronic performance across a wide range of environmental conditions.