To Infinity and Beyond
04/01/2008
When it comes to semiconductor and MEMS devices, it is well-known that the industry is experiencing certain limitations – whether they are related to functionality, reliability or cost. These are viewed as roadblocks by some but as opportunities by others. Some start-up companies are poised to be the superheroes of the industry – blasting through limitations and opening new frontiers in technology. The Roadshow crew visited two such crusading companies.
Constraints in thermal and power management are limiting growth in the electronics industry. The founders of Nextreme Thermal Solutions caught onto these issues, and are fueling their own vision by manufacturing discrete thermoelectric devices and integrating their core technology — a thermal copper pillar bump made from epitaxial material — directly into the die.
A few miles away, Coventor is making inroads in simulation software for MEMS and semiconductor devices, allowing MEMS products to be developed at lower cost by eliminating the need for prototypes.
 |
We visited Nextreme Thermal Solutions in their new Durham NC location. The expanded facility will allow the company to ramp their thermal bump technology to support high production. (L-R) Francoise von Trapp, managing editor, Advanced Packaging magazine; David A. Koester, V.P. engineering; Seri Lee, Ph.D., CTO; Paul A Magill, Ph.D., V.P. marketing and business development; and Gail Flower, editor-in-chief, Advanced Packaging magazine.
 |
The roadshow crew visited Coventor’s North American headquarters to learn about the company’s suite of 3D simulation software specifically designed to serve the MEMS and semiconductor industries. (L-R) Flower; Stephen Breit, Ph.D., V.P. engineering; von Trapp; Michael Jamiolkowski, president and CEO, and Joost van Kuijk, Ph.D., vice president of marketing and business development.
Nextreme Thermal Solutions, Durham, NC
 |
Lee demonstrates the effect different temperatures have on the intensity and color of LEDs illustrating one application of Nextreme’s thermal bump technology.
 |
This permanent power cycling test bench is used for environmental stressing of various Nextreme devices, such as the eTEC and OptoCooler modules. By determining the device failure rates, process modifications can be made and problems can be engineered out.
 |
Randy Alley, manager of design & test, explains the C.O.P. test station which uses thermocouples to measure the hot and cold sides of an embedded thermoelectric component (eTEC).
 |
These laser diode TO-cans feature eTECs that can withstand high heat fluxes, and can subsequently dissipate heat without needing an extra efficiency reducing layer typically required to reduce the heat density.
 |
A microscopic view of the flipside of the OptoCooler module shows four thermal bumps made from thin-film thermoelectric material embedded into solder bump interconnects.
 |
Nextreme’s Ultra-High Packing Fraction (UPF) OptoCooler modules can be optimized for laser diode, LED, and advanced sensor products.
 |
Sarabjit Sidhu, process development technician, performs environmental stress tests on eTECs.
Coventor, Cary, NC
 |
van Kuijk, Jamiolkowski, and Breit, have all been with the company since the early days. Since then the company has grown to become the leader in dedicated software for the MEMS industry.
 |
van Kuijk gave us a product overview, explaining how the company offers an integrated toolset for designing MEMS, evaluating performance, and optimizing for manufacturability.
 |
An example simulation in NetFlow of two species mixing in a meandering channel.
 |
The Preprocessor is a flexible 3D viewer that provides an intuitive, easy way to prepare solid models for finite element analysis in ANALYZER or 3rd-party FEA tools.
 |
Silicon-accurate 3D model showing individual IC layers at the back-end-of-line (BEOL).
 |
An example of a SEMulator3D Si-accurate model.