Issue

Long ago, a chip architect pointed out to me that the only thing integrated circuits are about, really, is packaging.

Senior Editor Pete Burggraaf's article "A Closer Look at Some of the Most Difficult Processing Challenges" in the September 2000 issue of SST was extremely informative, particularly the section on solutions for saving water on p. 90.

Worldwide Highlights; USA; Europe; Taiwan; AsiaPacific; Japan; and Investment Briefs.

Reticle inspection enters the deep-UV; Hyundai takes on wafer-level packaging, test with FormFactor license; LG.Phillips' TFT LCDs: Low-temp polysilicon with fewer masks ...

More than 600 attendees of the 20th annual BACUS Symposium on Photomask Technology discussed the latest efforts to optimize application of reticle enhancement technology (RET).

There's fast-growing interest in Japan in the potential of 5-15mm technology, that long-ignored middle region between packages and semiconductors.

Siemens plant to reopen; Schlumberger opens center in Italy; Euro Briefs.

It is always safe to predict change in the volatile DRAM market. To forecast the kind of change and its consequences is more challenging. The overall DRAM outlook is good. Revenue is forecast at a compound annual growth rate of 31%, unit shipments at 13%, and megabit growth at a healthy 61%.

A calendar of industry-related events; runs November 2000 to March 2001.

Pac Tech GmbH, Menlo Park, CA, has appointed Ron Blankenhorn president and chief executive officer for its US operations. Blankenhorn has more than 23 years of ...

Step-and-repeat scanning system from Nikon Precision Inc., Belmont, CA; Innovative RTP tool from ASM International N.V., Bilthoven, Netherlands; High-speed linear wafer track from B.L.E. Laboratory Equipment GmbH, Radolfzell, Germany; Laser probe system for flip chips from Jets Technology, Santa Clara, CA ...

Fixed gas detection catalog from Scott/Bacharach Instruments LLC, Exton, PA; Laser-based gauging sensors literature from Laser Measurement International, Industrial Sensors Division, Southfield, MI; Porous metal technology brochure from Mott Corp., Farmington, CT.

Use of cylinder gases in semiconductor manufacturing presents a set of unique challenges for microcontamination control. Here, success requires tight control of the cylinder material of construction, gas fill and delivery techniques, and knowledge of the dynamics of cylinder gas contamination levels during use.

Most of the devices in today's portable wireless products are passive components, and the integration of these components into a substrate or a separate device can provide significant performance, cost, and size advantages.

System-in-package technology is allowing progress in miniaturization, performance, and cost reduction leading to tremendous advances in portable electronics. Significant challenges with system-on-chip technologies make SiP an attractive option for many applications.

With successive IC generations, thin-film defects nucleated by small particles become a greater concern. We have observed that the angle of incidence of the deposition flux can have a major effect on the evolution of film defects nucleated by small substrate particles.

For high-current ion implantation, energy reduction is the critical technology process trend, and it presents fundamental process and equipment design challenges.

Spin apply polymer coatings can be used in packaging applications as a stress buffer passivation layer for improved device reliability. They can also serve as dielectric and passivation layers in bond pad redistribution circuits for flip-chip packaging.

Advanced equipment and process control (AEC and APC) are keys to future success in wafer processing, but the industry is adopting the basics of AEC, APC, and so-called e-manufacturing at a glacial pace relative to that of our technology and financial demands.