December 15, 2011 — Grid-array packages — ball grid arrays (BGA), land grid arrays (LGA), column grid arrays (CGA) — are getting larger, and as such as susceptible to mechanical stresses from handling, assembly onto PCBs, and test procedures. IPC and JEDEC created
Tag Archives: Advanced Packaging
December 15, 2011 – Marketwire — CHAD Industries integrated its WaferMate300-1 automated wafer handling workcell with Nordson DAGE’s 4300 Bond Shear inspection tool, allowing for hands-off 300mm handling and bond shear inspection.
The system automatically delivers 300mm wafers to the bond shear test tool. The entire system is enclosed for operator safety & clean wafer handling (Class-2), and includes factory automation features (E84 and E87) for automated FOUP delivery to the workcell. SECS/GEM communications and integrated RFID features ensures that the correct wafer lot is being inspected, and allows the wafer inspection data to be uploaded to the factory host computer without manual intervention.
CHAD Industries designs, manufactures, and markets odd-form electronics assembly equipment, automated solar cell manufacturing systems, and semiconductor wafer handling solutions. Learn more at www.chadindustries.net.
Nordson DAGE is a unit of the Nordson Corporation and manufactures and supports a complete range of award winning digital X-ray inspection systems and bond test equipment for the printed circuit board assembly and semiconductor industries. For more information, visit www.nordsondage.com.
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December 14, 2011 — Semiconductor packaging materials will be a $22.8 billion market this year, and should grow to $25.7 billion by 2015, says SEMI and TechSearch International.
Laminate substrates remain the largest segment of packaging materials: $9.7 billion globally in 2011. This sector will see healthy 8% growth (unit basis) in a 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
New materials are pushing higher growth in certain areas, including underfill materials, wafer-level dielectrics, copper bonding materials, and leadframe chipscale packaging (CSP), among others.
Key opportunities for growth in the packaging market include 9
December 14, 2011 – BUSINESS WIRE — Cree Inc. (Nasdaq:CREE) added 2 Cree TEMPO offerings to its LED design and evaluation services: TEMPO (Thermal Electrical Mechanical Photometric Optical) thermal simulation and photometric testing options.
The aim is to eliminate design, engineering, and manufacturing barriers to solid-state lighting manufacturers, said Mark McClear, Cree, director of global applications engineering.
TEMPO Thermal Simulation is a cost-effective way to model the thermal performance of prototype LED fixtures. The simulation predicts the thermal behavior of LED-based fixtures, including junction temperature (Tj), heatsink temperature, temperature profile, and airflow profile.
The quick-turn photometric evaluation option, joining Cree’s TEMPO SPOT service, allows customers to access complex, expensive photometric performance measurement equipment. Rapid photometrid analysis of prototype devices can help prevent design mistakes throughout development of luminaires and replacement lamps. Customers can choose integrated measurements from a 2-meter sphere or 3D measurements from a Type C Goniophotometer to visualize and predict the photometric performance of an installed luminaire.
Cree currently provides TEMPO Services out of its Cree Technology Centers, located in Research Triangle Park, NC and Santa Barbara, CA. Future TEMPO Service locations in Munich, Germany; Shenzhen and Shanghai, China; and Taiwan are targeted to open in 2012.
Cree makes lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting, and semiconductor products for power and radio-frequency (RF) applications. Cree’s product families include LED fixtures and bulbs, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, power-switching devices and RF devices. For additionalinformation, visit www.cree.com.
Secember 14, 2011 — STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) produced a semiconductor wafer tested via electromagnetic waves rather than physical wafer probes.
ElectroMagnetic Wafer Sort (EMWS) was developed from Electrical Wafer Sort (EWS), performed at the end of wafer processing and before package assembly and final test. In EMWS, each die contains a tiny antenna. Automated test equipment (ATE) supplies power and communicates with the die via electromagnetic waves.
The ATE uses probes only to power-up the wafer in high-power products. Low-power products are tested with no contact at all.
EMWS is the result of UHF TAG Antenna Magnetically Coupled to Integrated Circuit (UTAMCIC), an R&D initiative led by Alberto Pagani, Giovanni Girlando and Alessandro Finocchiaro from STMicroelectronics and Professor Giuseppe Palmisano from the University of Catania.
The die, such as RFID ICs, can be tested with higher yields, shorter testing times, and lower product cost, under close-to-real-operation conditions, ST asserts. Die size can be reduced with fewer test pads required.
The biggest benefit will go to customers using ST’s low-power RF circuits, said Alberto Pagani, Test R&D and Competitive Intelligence, ST. "Because the RF circuits, anticollision protocol, and embedded antenna are tested under the same conditions they will operate under in the customer
Update, January 18, 2012 – Marketwire — inTEST Corporation’s Temptronic Corporation has closed on the acquisition of Thermonics, Inc. on January 16, 2012, pursuant to the agreement entered into in December 2011. The purchase price for the assets was approximately $3.8 million cash, which included net working capital of approximately $1.1 million.
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December 13, 2011 – Marketwire — Temperature management and semiconductor ATE company inTEST Corporation (NASDAQ:INTT) will acquire the assets and certain liabilities of Thermonics Inc. from Test Enerprises Inc. inTEST’s Temptronic Corporation, of the Thermal Solutions Group, will integrate the company.
The acquisition is expected to close in January 2012.
Thermonics develops precision temperature testing systems with emphasis on speed, accuracy, and reliability. The precision temperature forcing systems are used in semiconductor and other industries to verify product performance at a range of temperatures. Acquiring the company expands inTEST’s semiconductor and non-semiconductor customer base — addressing temperature-related problems in the test, manufacturing, conditioning and process control arenas, said James Pelrin, president of inTEST Thermal Solutions. Pelrin points out that the product ranges are complementary to those of Temptronic Corporation, which inTEST acquired in 2000.
Robert E. Matthiessen, inTEST Corporation’s president and CEO, noted that the thermal products expand inTEST’s served available market in non-semiconductor businesses such as Automotive, Aerospace, Industrial, and Telecommunications. "inTEST Corporation began 2011 with non-semiconductor related bookings of 18% for the first quarter; and the company has systematically expanded its product offerings, with our most recent third quarter non-semiconductor related bookings increasing to 41% of consolidated bookings…During the third quarter of 2011, nearly 60% of our Thermal Group’s bookings came from non-semi customers, driven by requirements from manufacturers of oscillators, industrial sensors, LEDs, equipment for the nuclear process industry, and military/aerospace applications."
inTEST Corporation is an independent designer, manufacturer and marketer of temperature management products and ATE interface solutions, which are used by semiconductor manufacturers to perform final testing of integrated circuits (ICs) and wafers. inTEST’s Thermal Solutions Group provides customized temperature test solutions. For more information, visit www.intest.com.
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December 12, 2011 — Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ:MENT) has combined technologies for thermal characterization and simulation with T3Ster hardware test products and its FloTHERM software, enabling better heat management in power semiconductor packages, such as LEDs.
T3Ster performs advanced thermal transient testing for semiconductor device packages and LEDs. FloTHERM provides electronics thermal simulation and analysis to predict airflow, temperature and heat transfer throughout electronics components, boards, and systems. Engineers can evaluate and test designs automatically before physical prototypes are built. The T3Ster/FloTHERM interface enables more accurate thermal simulation than working from vendor datasheets, MENT reports. The characterization is JESD51-14-compliant. JESD51-14 is a measurement methodology standard for the junction-to-case thermal resistance of power semiconductor devices.
When combined with the T3Ster product, engineers using the FloTHERM tool will benefit from both accurate thermal simulation models derived from real measurements and thermal package characterization testing.
The integrated thermal suite is designed to eliminate manual thermal characterization work and improve accuracty. The combined T3Ster hardware measurement and FloTHERM software simulation methodology optimizes heat management in devices, sub-systems and full systems. Component makers can optimize LED and IC package designs for effective heat dissipation. Device prototypes can then be characterized thermally to build accurate models for subsystem and system designs. Systems integrators can verify heat management strategy with physical measurements in T3ster.
LEDs are becoming more powerful, drawing more attention to heat in failure mechanisms, said Dr. Thomas Zahner, quality manager, Osram Opto Semiconductors, who is using the product. "OSRAM is devoting considerable attention to thermal design." Zahner notes that testing in bulk increases their statistical confidence in measurement results. Thermal attach issues are identified by the T3Ster product (from
December 12, 2011 – PRNewswire via COMTEX — MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:MX), designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed signal semiconductor products, now offers a redistribution layer (RDL) metal process for wafer bumping and an I/O structure and process that is fully compatible with copper wire bonding, reducing packaging costs.
RDL packaging moves wire bond pads around the die perimeter to bump pads in the die center, allowing for larger pitches at wafer bumping and solder use rather than plating. This process requires one additional aluminum layer and is fully compatible with MagnaChip’s standard CMOS process.
Working with major packaging providers (MagnaChip named Amkor as one example), the company developed a copper wire bonding process that avoids dielectric cracks beneath pads caused by higher mechanical stresses. Copper wire bonding will save materials costs and increase conductivity over gold wire bonding.
MagnaChip Semiconductor is a Korea-based designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products for high-volume consumer applications. For more information, please visit www.magnachip.com.
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December 9, 2011 — Honeywell Microelectronics will use Tezzaron’s 3D stacking on Honeywell
Update December 28, 2011 – Ahead of schedule, Rohm Co., Ltd., will resume full-scale production of all products affected by the flooding in Thailand on January 1, 2012.
Rohm makes ICs, transistors, diodes, resistors, and tantalum capacitors at LAPIS Semiconductor (Ayutthaya) Co., Ltd., in Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya (closed due to the floods on October 8), and ROHM Integrated Systems (Thailand) Co. Ltd. in Navanakom Industrial Park in Pathumthani (floods closed it on October 15).
Read the details of Rohm’s Thailand recovery here.
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December 9, 2011 – More news this week from companies reassessing their plans following the devastating Thailand flooding. And one analyst puts a number to the total disaster’s industrywide impact: 3.8 million fewer PC units in the pipeline for 1Q11.
After initial suspending its local probe/assembly/test facilities sites in Ayutthaya’s Rojana Industrial Park, On Semiconductor now says analysis of the damage (and "prolonged inability of these sites to operate") means the cost to recover, rebuild, and restart those operations "is not financially viable […] for an indefinite period, if at all." So it is ceasing all production at its Sanyo Semiconductor sites in Ayutthaya, Thailand, and will keep limited production at the Bang Pa In facility, a decision that affects some 1600 employees. Most of the Thai output will be transferred to other internal sites in Malaysia, Philippines, and China plus some external subcons — a process helped by the company’s recovery of "certain key assets" from the affected sites "which will be crucial to reestablishing the supply line to these customers." Given the complexity of complex production transfers, a return to pre-flood production capacity is expected to "take multiple quarters."
In October On Semiconductor suspended indefinitely its local operations, formerly owned by Sanyo Semiconductor and acquired earlier this year. Damage to the Rojana sites, which produced ~10%-12% of the company’s total global output (by revenues), were thought to exceed the $50M of potential insurance proceeds. The Bang Pa In facility was later affected by the flooding as well.
Another firm affected by the Thailand flooding damage, STATS ChipPAC, says its operation in the Navanakorn Industrial Estate which has been offline since Oct. 17 will remain offline through January, and will resume "partial" operations sometime later in 1Q12. Originally the company had projected the plant would be suspended only to the beginning of December.
Flood water levels at the site have receded to where the company has regained access to the facility to begin assessing damage, including potential recovery of assets (with help from outside "equipment restoration specialists") and restoration planning. Production also has been shifted to other sites.
Despite the delay, the company is reaffirming its 4Q11 lowered expectations (from late-Oct.’s 3Q11 financial statements), saying 4Q11 sales will increase only single-digit growth sequentially (the Thai flooding taking an estimated -7% hit to revenues), with adjusted EBITDA of 20%-25% of sales and $50M-$60M in capex.
We’ve been tracking the Thailand flooding’s impact on our sector; here’s a list of test/assembly firms who’ve been affected. With many hard-disk drive suppliers concentrated in Thailand, the domino effect is expected to ripple up and down the supply chain — taking form as softer demand for components like DRAM (as if that sector needed more sluggishness), and ultimately PC supplies. IHS iSuppli calculates nearly a 4M unit shortfall in 1Q11 PC shipments as a result, exacerbating what is already a seasonally slow post-holiday period for PC demand. HDD supplies should rebound by 2Q12, though — and might even achieve oversupply before the year’s out.