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In support of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s commitment to furthering New York State’s international leadership in the global nanotechnology driven economy of the 21st century, SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (SUNY Poly CNSE) and Inficon, Inc. (INFICON) today announced plans for a joint research and development alliance on advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology. The 2-year R&D agreement will leverage SUNY Poly CNSE’s globally recognized state-of-the-art capabilities and INFICON’s in-situ monitoring technologies that are enabling the “smart factories” of the future with real time nanoscale process control. The joint alliance will also formally launch a new Advanced Manufacturing Performance (AMP) Center dedicated to the component, sub-system and site-service companies that support the advanced manufacturing processes in a broad array of industries. The AMP Center is expected to lead to the creation of 50 jobs and will leverage the operations at the NanoTech Albany Complex while expanding to the Computer Chip Commercialization Center (QUAD-C) in Marcy with dedicated R&D capabilities, which will also support new advanced manufacturing operations recently announced by Governor Cuomo.

“Governor Cuomo’s high-tech economic blueprint for New York State is rooted in world class research and development opportunities and our partnership with INFICON will enable increased efficiency and effectiveness as we determine new manufacturing standards necessary to meet the future needs of the industry,” said Michael Fancher, Executive Director of the New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Nanoelectronics and Nanomaterials (CATN2)  “INFICON and CNSE have enjoyed a long relationship and this agreement marks a new level of collaboration with one of the world’s leading innovation companies located just 30 minutes away from SUNY Poly’s Marcy campus that is expanding its operations in the New York NanoTech corridor today. We look forward to our collaboration with INFICON and enabling the continued growth of New York’s burgeoning nanoelectronics industry.”

“The demands on the nanoelectronics industry are increasing rapidly and it is vital that we continue to build our sensing and analysis capabilities. SUNY Poly CNSE is a critical enabling resource in catalyzing new research and development, not just due to its world-class facilities and personnel, but also its ability to foster partnerships between state government, the private sector and New York State’s top-flight universities and research institutions,” said Peter Maier, President of INFICON, Inc.  “With our recent expansion in Syracuse, INFICON has grown its local workforce to 260 and is excited to launch this partnership to advance the development of next generation sensor technologies.”

INFICON is a provider of instrumentation, critical sensor technologies, and advanced process control software that enhance productivity and quality in sophisticated industrial vacuum processes. The establishment of the semiconductor research and development partnership with SUNY Poly CNSE will characterize precursor and/or byproduct compounds containing phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, gallium, and/or indium that may evolve from the surface of wafers during and/or following various processes throughout the semiconductor manufacturing sequence; identify and develop methods for detecting and analyzing such compounds; and improve and develop sensor technologies and equipment that embody or incorporate such methods.

Intersil Corporation, a provider of innovative power management and precision analog solutions, today announced the acquisition of Great Wall Semiconductor (GWS), a private technology company developing power metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) technology for cloud computing, space and consumer applications.

GWS’s design team brings valuable experience leveraging advanced design and process technology to enable power efficiency gains and footprint reduction in complex power systems. GWS’s existing and emerging FET products in combination with Intersil’s power controller portfolio, are expected to expand Intersil’s addressable market and provide compelling integration opportunities to accelerate innovation in the development of next generation power stages.

“This small but experienced team will be a great asset as we continue to expand our power management capabilities,” said Mark Downing, senior vice president of corporate strategy and infrastructure power products. “Intersil’s strategy is based on establishing market leadership through the development of highly efficient and highly integrated power management solutions. This acquisition is aligned with that effort and nicely augments our existing team with additional intellectual property and talent.”

“GWS has differentiated itself through expertise in Lateral Power MOSFET device and processing technology combined with miniature chipscale packaging,” said Sam Anderson, CEO of Great Wall Semiconductor. “We have developed important intellectual property that enables energy savings and environmental progess that can now reach a broader set of customers and markets as we become part of Intersil.”

Intersil acquired GWS for initial cash consideration of $19 million, with up to $4 million additional cash consideration based on the achievement of post-closing business metrics through 2016.  The acquisition is expected to be neutral to 2015 non-GAAP earnings.

Marking an industry first for emerging electronics devices, Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) today announced a significant expansion of its benchmarking research — a unique program that evaluates the relative capabilities of new and emerging computing devices.

SRC, the world’s leading university-research consortium for semiconductor technologies, is managing the initiative through its Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (SRC-NRI) and STARnet Research programs. The research will be led by the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Azad Naeemi, associate professor, Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“Benchmarking guides university research funded through SRC — enabling concise communication of research outcomes, focusing researchers’ attention on key technical challenges and sparking invention,” said Tom Theis, executive director of SRC-NRI. “Professor Naeemi’s research is expected to take benchmarking of emerging devices to a new level of sophistication.”

Evaluating the performance of devices in representative “benchmark” circuits is a well-established engineering practice in the semiconductor industry. However, this new program is the first to develop a comparable methodology for evaluating the relative capabilities of emerging devices.

These emerging devices include, for example, transistor-like “steep slope” devices that can operate at very low voltage and, therefore, very low power, and non-volatile magnetic devices that combine the functions of logic and memory. The new devices operate by a variety of principles fundamentally different from those governing the operation of established silicon field-effect transistor technology.

In recent years, benchmarking of these devices has steadily increased in rigor. The Georgia Tech team — selected by a group of SRC member companies supporting the initiative including IBM, Intel Corporation, Micron Technology and Texas Instruments — will build on this foundation.

“This research will also enable selection of the most promising emerging devices for technology transfer to SRC member companies and for continued development in future SRC research programs,” said Gilroy Vandentop, executive director of STARnet Research.

Besides maintaining and improving the established benchmarking methodology, the Georgia Tech team is tasked with developing and evaluating benchmark circuits to better understand the potential of new devices for memory arrays, to explore and quantify the value of non-volatility and to measure the impact of various ways of implementing device-to-device connections. Perhaps most challenging, Prof. Naeemi will lead the development of a rigorous benchmarking methodology for non-Boolean (analog) computational circuits being explored for future applications such as artificial neural networks.

“Our team is chartered with maintaining and improving the established benchmarking methodology for emerging devices, evaluating the potential performance of the various SRC-NRI and STARnet devices in the established benchmark circuits,” said Naeemi. “We will incorporate additional device concepts as they emerge through ongoing research, and we will develop additional benchmark circuits to better understand the capabilities of these devices.”

The SRC benchmark program is a two-and-a-half year effort that funds research from July 1, 2015 through the close of 2017.

The GaN devices market for power electronics application will explode in 2016, reaching US$300 million in 2020, Yole Développement (Yole) announced in its latest power electronic report, entitled GaN and SiC devices for power electronics applications (July 2015). The “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting company Yole, highlights an increasing interest of numerous industrial companies already involved in this sector.

“The future GaN power devices market is also depending on the global patent landscape and coming mergers and acquisitions,” explained Dr. Nicolas Baron, CEO of KnowMade, partner of Yole.
Indeed KnowMade and Yole’s analysts are working together for a long time in order to combine their technical expertise and market knowledge. Both companies combine their vision of the industry and create a high added-value synergy through technical, market and patent analysis on the disruptive technology markets.

power GaN

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Nicolas Baron detailed: “To dominate the GaN power devices market, industrial companies will have to anticipate changes, identify business opportunities, mitigate risks and make strategic decisions to strengthen their market positioning and maximize return on IP portfolio.” But who owns these patents? To answer to these questions, KnowMade proposes today a comprehensive patent analysis dedicated to the GaN devices for power electronic applications. This report is entitled Power GaN Devices for Power Electronics patent investigation: under this report, KnowMade’s experts review the technical challenges, highlight the business opportunits and detail a comprehensive IP landscape.

Today, there are only a few players selling power GaN products: Infineon/International Rectifier, EPC, GaN Systems, Transphorm are the main companies. The market is still small, estimated at US$10 million in 2015 (Source: GaN and SiC devices for power electronics application report, July 2015, Yole Développement).

“But, the ramp-up will be quite impressive, starting in 2016, at an estimated 93 percent CAGR through 2016-2020, with an estimated 2020 device market size of more than US$300 million in the baseline ‘nominal’ scenario,” explained Dr. Hong Lin, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole.

The GaN devices for power electronics industry is consolidating in preparation for this significant growth. This can been seen in:

–  The recent acquisitions of International Rectifier (IR) by Infineon
–  The license agreements between Infineon and Panasonic and between Transphorm and Furukawa
–  And the will of several firms to move onto the mass production stage. Transphorm/Fujitsu is a good example.

Under the GaN Devices for Power Electronics patent investigation, KnowMade’s experts identified more than 1,960 worldwide patented inventions related to GaN for power electronic applications up to April 2015 and more than 200 patent applicants. Most of the major silicon power players are present in the list of the top patent applicants.

“Those figure indicate a strong interest from power electronic players in the GaN business” commented Dr. Nicolas Baron from KnowMade. And he added: “So far, only IR/Infineon has commercialized GaN devices. But other traditional power players are able to disrupt and reshape the market, armed with strong IP.”

According to this patent investigation, it can be safely assumed that IR has the best patent portfolio in power GaN, and IR/Infineon combined company has the strongest IP, putting them in position to lead GaN power market growth.

However, this IP leadership position could evolve in the future since newcomers like Transphorm, Fujitsu and Mitsubishi Electric are becoming major forces and may reshape the landscape:

– Transphorm is the most important IP challenger in the power GaN arena, ahead of other GaN start-ups like EPC and GaN Systems. Its patent portfolio and partnerships with the likes of Furukawa, Fujitsu and On Semiconductor have put it in a strong position to take a leading role in the GaN device market. Furukawa Electric has an ample IP portfolio with a significant ‘blocking potential’, but the company hasn’t been able yet to commercialize the technology on its own. By giving Transphorm exclusive licensing rights on its GaN patent portfolio, Furukawa Electric has found a strategic partner to bring its technology to market.

– In parallel, both companies, Fujitsu and Mitsubishi Electric have demonstrated an interest in power GaN technology since 2010 with a strong increase of their patenting activity these last 3 years, heralding substantial future IP portfolios.

With this new GaN patent analysis KnowMade and Yole review the power GaN technology and market trends, including technical challenges and known solutions. Both partners propose a deep understanding of the IP landscape and related key trends in IP and technology development.
This analysis lists as well the major players and relative strength of their patent portfolio. It also identifies the new players.

The analysts highlight the IP collaboration networks between the key players and propose a deep added-value synthesis of their strategic decisions.

Jason Chang, chairman of Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. has formally received the SEMI award at the 2015 SEMICON Taiwan Leadership Gala Dinner held in Taipei, Taiwan. The SEMI award recognizes Jason’s significant achievements in the development and commercialization of copper wire in the IC assembly process. This year, SEMICON also celebrates its 20th anniversary in Taiwan and Jason had the honor of receiving his award from President Ma Ying-jeou, who was the guest-of-honor at the event.

In early 2005, anticipating a steep increase in gold price, Jason embarked on a bold move to encourage the use of copper wire bonding as an alternative to gold wire bonding. When the price of gold soared in 2007 and to all-time highs in 2011 and 2012, ASE was able to offer a proven and viable alternative to customers. The transition from gold to copper, however, was not without challenge. Customers were initially skeptical about the thermal and electrical performance of copper versus gold and whether cost savings would ultimately be worthwhile. The ASE engineering team went through years of laborious studies, evaluations, and qualification lots, and with each successful production run, customers become increasingly confident with the process. By 2011, ASE was shipping more than four billion chips using copper wire bonding processes.

“It is a huge honor to receive the SEMI Award and be recognized amongst so many of our peers,” said Jason Chang. “In a dynamic industry where change and advancement is our lifeline, it is ASE’s mission to innovate and integrate the latest technologies, the newest materials, and the most advanced production methods to enable the success of our customers’ IC designs.”

The SEMI Award was established in 1979 to recognize outstanding technical achievement and meritorious contribution in the areas of Semiconductor Materials, Wafer Fabrication, Assembly and Packaging, Process Control, Test and Inspection, Robotics and Automation, Quality Enhancement, and Process Integration. The award is the highest honor conferred by SEMI. It is open to individuals or teams from industry or academia whose specific accomplishments have broad commercial impact and widespread technical significance for the entire semiconductor industry.

Nordson Corporation today announced it has acquired Munich, Germany-based MatriX Technologies GmbH, a manufacturer of automated X-ray inspection (AXI) equipment used to ensure the quality of electronic printed circuit boards, critical electronic devices and fully assembled products in consumer, automotive and other industrial end markets worldwide.

MatriX employs approximately 100 people at its German headquarters and branch offices in Singapore, China and the USA. The business will operate as part of Nordson’s Advanced Technology Systems segment and will be integrated into the company’s existing test and inspection platform which includes the Nordson DAGE X-ray and bond test and YESTECH automated optical inspection product lines. MatriX revenues for 2014 were approximately €26 million. Nordson expects the acquisition of MatriX to be accretive to earnings in the first full year of operation. Terms of the deal and financial details of the business were not disclosed.

“MatriX solutions are aligned with the market trend towards X-ray inspection of critical electronic parts, advanced components and final product assemblies manufactured in high-volume series production,” said Michael F. Hilton, Nordson President and Chief Executive Officer. “Key drivers for AXI inspection equipment include increased board complexity from further product miniaturizations and the growing trend towards fast and fully automated, less labor intensive production lines requiring high-speed in-line AXI solutions for a 100% process control and yield protection. By adding MatriX to our strong existing test and inspection platform, Nordson can now offer customers a full range of automated and manual, in-line and batch X-ray inspection solutions (AXI and MXI), automated optical inspection systems (AOI), and bond testers.”

MatriX serves a wide range of leading customers in the automotive, consumer electronics, EMS and other industrials manufacturing space. The Company’s proven business model is based on profitable revenue streams from the sale of high-end X-ray inspection system solutions and the offering of integrated after-sales services over the entire equipment lifecycle.

MatriX Managing Director Eckhard Sperschneider said, “With the combination of Nordson DAGE’s and MatriX’s complementary X-ray inspection system product lines in the area of MXI and AXI, we can now offer our industrial customers a complete range of X-ray inspection system solutions for the entire product development and manufacturing cycle, starting from high-resolution X-ray inspection equipment for sample tests in lab and R&D environments up to high-speed AXI in-line solutions for a 100% inspection of critical parts and components in high-volume series production.” MatriX Managing Director Marc Sperschneider added, “We are looking forward to joining Nordson and capitalizing on the wide range of synergies in core X-ray technologies, joint R&D and new product development which will further strengthen our leading position in the AXI market.”

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures and markets differentiated products and systems used for the precision dispensing of adhesives, coatings, sealants, biomaterials, polymers, plastics and other materials, fluid management, test and inspection, UV curing and plasma surface treatment, all supported by application expertise and direct global sales and service.

Solid State Technology is thrilled to announce that several key industry leaders have joined the Advisory Board for its annual conference and networking event, The ConFab. New members include: Robert Cappel, Senior Director Corporate Marketing, KLA-Tencor; William Chen, Fellow and Senior Technical Advisor, ASE; L.T. Guttadauro, Executive Director, Fab Owners Association; Li Li, Distinguished Engineer, Cisco Systems; Ariel Meyuhas, COO, The MAX Group; Gary Patton, CTO and Head of Worldwide R&D, GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Elton Peace, General Manager North America Regional Operations, Lam Research.

“We are delighted to welcome the new additions to our Advisory Board, each of whom have a unique and valuable insight into the what makes the semiconductor manufacturing industry successful,” said Pete Singer, Editor-in-Chief of Solid State Technology and conference chair for The ConFab. “These individuals will be instrumental is ensuring that The ConFab has an expanded role in the industry and is a “must attend” event for networking and discussing critical economic and manufacturing issues.”

The ConFab 2016 conference program will focus on “The Economics of Semiconductor Manufacturing and Design”. Topics will include:

  • How IoT is Driving the Semiconductor Industry
  • Filling the Fabs of the Future: A Guide to Hot New Applications
  • MEMS Sensor Fusion and More then Moore
  • The Limits of Scaling: Understanding the Challenges of sub-10nm Manufacturing
  • Fabless, Foundries and OSATs: Optimizing the Supply Chain
  • System Integration, Advanced Packaging + 3D Integration
  • China’s New Role in the Global Semiconductor Industry
  • Legacy Fabs and the Resurgence of 200mm
  • The Impact of Continued Consolidation Across the Supply Chain
  • Wearables and Bioelectronics: The Cusp of a Revolution?
  • Tackling Rising R&D Costs in the Semiconductor Industry

The new members will be joining the existing Advisory Board, comprised of David Bennett, VP Alliances, GLOBALFOUNDRIES; Janice M. Golda, Director, Lithography Capital Equipment Development, Intel Corporation; Devan Iyer,,Director Worldwide Semiconductor Packaging Operations, Texas Instruments; Lori Nye, COO/Executive Director Customer Operations, Brewer Science; Ken Rygler, President, Rygler Associates (founder of Toppan Photomasks); Sima Salamati, VP, Fab Operations, imec; Hans Stork, CTO, ON Semiconductor Corporation; Aubrey Tobey, President, ACT International; Geoffrey Yeap, VP of Technology, Qualcomm Inc.; and Abe Yee, Sr. Director, Advanced Technology and Package Development, NVIDIA Corporation.

 The ConFab (June 12-15, 2016) is an executive-level conference and networking event for business leaders from the semiconductor manufacturing and design industry. The event features a high-level conference program, networking events and business meetings with purchasing decision makers and influencers. More information on The ConFab may be found at www.theconfab.com.

In 2014, the automotive sector significantly outperformed the overall market average for semiconductors. In fact, the automotive market overtook data processing to become the third largest end market for power semiconductor applications, according to IHS Inc., a global source of critical information and insight.

Based on information from the IHS Power Management Market Share and Supplier Analysis report, demand for semiconductors by the automotive industry was particularly strong in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and infotainment systems. In the power management semiconductor market, power integrated circuits (ICs) grew much faster than traditional power discrete solutions. The automotive power IC category in 2015 is forecast to grow 8 percent, year over year, while discrete revenue is projected to remain flat during the same time period.

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“One strategy that automakers are undertaking to control research and development costs is to develop shared designs, components, engineering, and production platforms, and using the same electronic control units (ECUs)  for many different platforms with the same features,” said Jonathan Liao, senior analyst of power semiconductors for IHS. “While over time modern cars have increased in size, suppliers prefer small and interchangeable electronic control units that can fit on various platforms, which help lower overall development costs, and expand the universe of target customers, for an improved return on investment.”

As a result of this approach, automotive power ICs are growing faster than discrete solutions. For example, Texas Instruments – the market leader in voltage regulators — controlled 8 percent of voltage regulators used by the automotive industry in 2011 and increased its voltage regulator revenues by 150 percent by the end of 2014. By comparison, Infineon — the leading automotive-market supplier of discrete power solutions — increased their power management revenues, at roughly half of Texas Instruments’ growth rate, during the same time period.

Growing demand for luxury features in non-luxury vehicles

Increased consumer demand has caused many luxury car features to find their way into the non-luxury car market, which is causing an increase in overall demand for power ICs. Adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, connected traffic updates, sophisticated infotainment systems with voice command and other advanced features are being integrated, as both options and upgrades, into mass-produced mid-range vehicles, like the Ford Fusion, which has a suggested price of $22,000. “Features that were originally designed for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus and other luxury cars have very quickly found their way into the non-luxury market,” Liao said

There are several key features that will encourage further power IC adoption, including Internet-connected cars, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, autonomous cars, Apple’s CarPlay and Android Auto. For all of these features, application processing speed and software are critical components.

“It is crucial for the ECUs to gather, process and respond to information in real time, for the safety and convenience of the driver,” Liao said. “Sophisticated power management solutions for power-intensive multi-core processors, baseband chipsets and sensor arrays can be implemented much more easily with power ICs.”

All of these advanced features are expected help power ICs to grow faster than discrete solutions.

The overall trend of power ICs outperforming power discrete solutions in the automotive semiconductor sector is expected to continue. Switch regulators, low-dropout (LDO) regulators and power management integrated circuits (PMICs) are examples of fast-growing power IC components with better integration, efficiency and smaller footprints –especially for low voltage applications in automotive electronics.

SEMICON Taiwan 2015 opened today starting a three-day event drawing over 43,000 attendees from electronics manufacturing. Held 2-4 September, SEMICON Taiwan represents the huge Taiwan business potential with Taiwanese chipmakers and Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) firms spending over $20 billion in the next two years on equipment and materials.

2015 is the 20th anniversary of SEMICON Taiwan and now draws more than 700 exhibitors and more than 43,000 attendees.  Over 500 will attend the SEMICON Taiwan Leadership Gala Dinner, one of the most important executive events for the high-tech industry in Taiwan.

SEMICON Taiwan features co-located events and technology theme pavilions focusing on IC design, MEMS, 3D-ICs, advanced packaging/testing, sustainable manufacturing, and secondary equipment.

Highlights of this year’s show include:

  • Executive Summit: With the theme “Conversation between Nobel Prize Laureate and Distinguished Leaders in Taiwan,” executives from Executive Yuan, Etron Technology, ASE Group, and NCTU will share their unique perspectives with Prof. Shuji Nakamura, 2014 Nobel Prize winner.
  • Market Trends Forum: Forum features speakers from Beijing Gaohua Securities, IDC Asia/Pacific, UBS Investment Bank, Sanford C. Bernstein, TechSearch, and SEMI, with moderation by TSMC.
  • CFO and Investor Summit: With the theme, “An Exciting Period of Growth and Mergers in the Semiconductor Industry,” the event features speakers from TSMC, DBS, National Tsing Hua University, imec, and Taiwan M&A and Private Equity Council, with moderation by EQUVO.
  • Memory Executive Summit: The Summit includes presenters from Everspin, imec, Inotera Memories, and ITRI.
  • SiP Global Summit 2015: With a strong focus on heterogeneous integration through System-in-a-Package (SiP) technology, the event features more than 20 industry leaders who will share their insights and solutions on 3D-IC, Through Silicon Via (TSV), 2.5D-IC with silicon interposer, and embedded substrate technologies. More than 500 industry professionals from around the world are expected to attend.
  • Advanced Packaging Technology Symposium: Presenters will cover market trends, product applications, and packaging/assembly solutions to advanced equipment and material development, and testing and reliability – covering the most advanced technology development directions for 3D-IC.
  • Sustainable Manufacturing Forum: Experts will address a wide variety of environment, health, safety (EHS) and sustainability topics that affect high-tech manufacturing.
  • Semiconductor Materials Forum: This is the newest forum — features topics including front-end materials for advanced semiconductor devises, advanced materials solutions for 10nm and beyond, challenges for local material manufacturers, and novel materials, and activities for advanced packaging.

For more information and online registration, visit the SEMICON Taiwan website: www.semicontaiwan.org

EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced that the company is experiencing strong demand for its automated 300mm polymer adhesive wafer bonding systems. Over the past 12 months, the company’s order intake has doubled for these systems, including the EVG 560, GEMINI and EVG 850 TB/DB series of wafer bonders. This includes multiple system orders from leading foundries and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers headquartered in Asia. Much of the increase in demand is being fueled by advanced packaging applications, where manufacturers are ramping up production of CMOS image sensors as well as vertically stacked semiconductors incorporating 2.5D and 3D-IC through silicon via (TSV) interconnect technology.

According to market research and strategy consulting firm Yole Developpement, the equipment market for 3D-IC and wafer-level packaging (WLP) applications is expected to grow significantly, from $933 million in 2014 to $2.6 billion in 2019 (total revenue), at a compound annual growth rate of 19 percent over the next five years*. Adhesive wafer bonding plays a critical role in supporting these applications.

Automated adhesive wafer bonding enables high yields on stacked devices
Adhesive wafer bonding is a technique that uses an intermediate layer (typically a polymer) for bonding two substrates, which is an important process technology for advanced packaging applications. The main advantages of using this approach are low temperature processing, surface planarization and tolerance to wafer topography. For CMOS image sensors, polymer adhesive bonding provides a protective barrier between the surface of the image sensor and the glass cover wafer. For 3D-IC TSV applications, polymer adhesive bonding plays an important role in temporary bonding and debonding applications, where product wafers are temporarily mounted on carriers with the aid of organic adhesives to enable reliable thinning and backside processing.

For both CMOS image sensor and stacked memory/logic applications, fully automated wafer bonding solutions are essential to support manufacturers’ migration to larger (300mm) wafer substrates to lower their overall cost of production. For example, minimizing total thickness variation (TTV) of the adhesive layer after bonding is crucial in defining the final product thickness tolerance. This ultimately has an impact on enabling thinner wafers and devices, which in turn enableshigher interconnect densities and lower TSV integration costs. EVG’s automated wafer bonding systems provide superior control of TTV and other parameters through repeatable wafer-to-wafer processing and integrated inline metrology to monitor TTV throughout the bonding process. As a result, manufacturers are increasingly turning to EVG to support their automated wafer bonding needs.

“We’ve truly entered the era of 3D-ICs, with demand for TSV wafers rising on a number of fronts—from CMOS image sensors for smart phone cameras and automotive surround view imaging, to 3D stacked memory and memory-on-logic to support high-performance, high-bandwidth applications such as networking, gaming, data centers and mobile computing,” stated Hermann Waltl, executive sales and customer support director at EV Group. “Automated wafer bonding is a critical process for supporting the volume manufacturing needs of CMOS image sensor and semiconductor device makers addressing these applications. EVG has invested years in the development of wafer bonding technology to make it a critical value-add solution for the advanced packaging market. Our breadth of knowledge in wafer bonding equipment and processes—along with our strong network of supply chain partners—has positioned us well to anticipate future industry trends and develop new solutions that meet our customers’ emerging production requirements.”