Evolution proceeds mostly by an incremental process of successive improvements and modifications. But when insights produce a qualitative leap to ultimate simplicity-in which form exactly fits function, with no superfluous structures-things of exceptional beauty emerge. Models Abundant in Nature Nature provides models, such as hummingbirds and waterfalls. And then there is the FgSA magnetic head slider from Innovex and the Ultra BGA from Substrate Technologies Inc., Maple Plain, Minn. First, we'll introduce the concepts with reference to their evolutionary predecessors, and, in each case, discuss some of the factors that led to the crucial inspiration. Then, we'll note the productivity and performance enhancements and the very significant cost reductions inherent in the new designs. Finally, we'll assess the profound market impacts that express the value of these innovations. Innovex is a gutsy company that faced potential extinction as a producer of lead-wire assemblies for the suspension assembly. (The SA mounts the disk drive heads so they can fly to-and hover precisely over-magnetic disk bits, to read or write, as you command.) Facing Obsolescence When lead-wire assemblies faced market obsolescence a few years ago, Innovex was ready to reinvent itself. In mid-1998, the company acquired Litchfield Precision Components, with its flex circuit and SA capabilities. That gave Innovex a path to the future of the critical component, the SA, in which unwanted discursions in the x (pitch) and z (roll) axes must be limited to 0.5 degrees for ever-more-demanding disk drive resolution requirements. (Every computer user can appreciate the increasing performance and decreasing cost of magnetic storage, which are made possible, in part, by improved SAs.) The company had been concentrated in a dying technology-discrete wire assemblies-just as magneto-resistive heads were doubling wires from two to four, while higher speeds and track densities were demanding lighter assemblies with better aerodynamics. Innovex' response (post-Litchfield) was the FSA (Flex Suspension Assembly), which employs a flex circuit to replace wires. That was the background for Mark Girard's out-of-the-box invention, the FgSA-Flex gimbal SA (Figures 1 and 2). Gimbal is the arcane high-density drive (HDD) industry word for the stainless steel chemical-machined structure that has been the foundation of the SA. Not a Trivial Task Girard and the other Innovex engineers eliminated this stainless steel object, replacing it with the same flex circuit that interconnects the head to the drive electronics. This wasn't a trivial task. The result was the FgSA.
The SA business is approaching one billion units, i.e., $1 billion, within the concentrating and mature $32 billion HDD business for last year (according to industry analyst DiskTrend), with only four contenders, compared to nine HDD manufacturers. At about $1 per unit, the SA gets lots of attention. Moreover, the Innovex FgSA, promises a 30% cost reduction. Innovex (INVX) is in many other businesses beside SAs, including flex circuits for many applications, including IC package substrates for TBGAs and Tessera's µBGAs, for example. The company deposits two-metal-flex material in Maple Plain. Substrate Technologies Inc., Carrollton, Texas, was born in 1996 in the mind of Abram Castro.
Founder at the Juncture Castro happened to be at the juncture where the exploding BGA IC package market met the inadequate supply of little, high-definition PWB substrates. While at Amkor, he headed the EBGA program ("E" for thermally enhanced), so he knew a lot about copper slug heat sinks used in that package. The final necessary ingredient was photo-defined build-up circuitry, and a model was at hand. IBM's SLC (Surface Laminar Circuit) had been developed in 1990. The SLC process was the first build-up technology used in volume production (such as IBM's ThinkPad notebook computer). It was created on the top and bottom of a four-layer PWB by successively depositing photosensitive dielectric layers, photodefining blind and buried vias, electroless copper plating and feature etch. There is no theoretical limit to the number of layers that can be built up this way. STI's out-of-the-box innovation (shown in Figures 3 and 4), joined copper stiffener to build-up circuitry, completely eliminating the PWB substrate-no more expensive BT resin glass-reinforced and cured, no prepreg bonding sheets, no copper foil. Moreover, additional layers are cheap, not $2 each as with conventional PWB substrate constructions.
Ultra BGA Construction Creating the new simpler Ultra BGA construction was not a simple task. It required the development of new processes and material applications, just as with the Innovex FgSA. Two key benefits were cost and performance, which represented a 30% savings compared to the EBGA (the objective is $1/sq. in.), with the Theta j-a improved over 20%. Present constructions accommodate lead counts from 20 to 800, with wire bonding or flip-chip. STI believes that its "served available market" was 304 million units ($1,492 million) last year, growing 13-fold in units and 4-fold in dollars by 2003. Given that the market is an elastic one, that is, lower prices produce more than proportionate total revenue as a result of expanded unit sales, this projection is plausible. Furthermore, the Ultra BGA has the potential to move into non-enhanced BGA markets that can use more thermal management. (Janet Love, who was formerly at ASAT, where she helped develop the TBGA market, is STI's vice president of North American sales.) One of these years, we'll see a new IPO with STI's name on it. It's interesting to note that the president and chief operating officer is Michael Knight, formerly a Berg Electronics executive. Berg was a Hicks, Muse success-and there is Hicks, Muse money in STI.
Concluding Thoughts Many have commented on the role of increasing productivity as the engine of the Great Boom. Usually they cite the Internet and its role in streamlining the supply chain and shortcutting communications. Or they point to the pervasion of computing power and the productivity-enhancing software applications enabled. In the 21st century, which opens on January 1, 2001 (we can have another Millennium celebration), lightwave communications will be the productivity hero, multiplying the benefits of all other advances. But we, in the hardware infrastructure world, know that innovations such as those described above really make all the other miracles possible.
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