Current Issue The International Reference for Chip-Scale Electronics, Flip-Chip Technology, Optoelectronic Interconnection and Wafer-Level Packaging July 2002 Email the editor

UTAC Opens U.S. Package Design Center

Singapore-Asia-based United Test and Assembly Center Ltd. has established a package design center at UTAC America, Pleasanton, Calif.

The design center, implemented by Dr. Anthony Sun, UTAC's vice president of advanced packaging development, will include core capabilities, such as thermal, mechanical and electrical package analysis and package layout design for leaded and laminate-based packages.

"In addition," according to Dr. Sun, "we plan to embark on joint-development projects on advanced packages, such as SiP, wCSP, FC-CSP, FC-BGA and multiple stacked-die CSP, to name a few."

Albert Ng, UTAC's vice president for sales and marketing says that the company is "looking into a similar infrastructure in Europe as part of our strategy of building a worldwide network of design, development and engineering centers." [utac.com.sg]

James Kim

Amkor Sustains Q1 Net Loss of $188 Million

Chandler, Ariz.-Amkor Technology Inc. reported a 2002 net loss for Q1 of $188 million, or $1.15/ share, which includes two items related to equity investment in Anam Semiconductor Inc.

Q1 revenue was $350 million, down 1 percent sequentially and down 27 percent for the year. First quarter assembly and test revenue was $289 million, while wafer-fab revenue hit $61 million.

James Kim, Amkor's chairman/CEO, said, "We remain firmly convinced that the initiatives we implemented during 2001-investing in new technology, penetrating regions and strengthening customer relationships-have created a platform that should enable Amkor to reach above-industry growth in 2002."

During the quarter, according to Amkor, "Business strengthened on a month-to-month basis." [amkor.com]

PSi Technologies Reports Higher Earnings for Q1

Manila-PSi Technologies Inc., a publicly traded provider of assembly and test of power semiconductors, reported Q1 2002 revenues of $14.5 million, compared to $13 million in the prior quarter, and $16.9 million for the same quarter in 2001. The company, however, still sustained a loss of $1.8 million, or -$0.13 per diluted share.

The company said its top five customers for Q1 were Fairchild Semiconductors, Infineon Technologies, ON Semi-conductors, Philips Components and Texas Instruments. [psitechnologies.com.ph]

ASE, MTBS Working on Joint Flip-Chip Project

San Jose-ASE Test Ltd. and MTBSolutions Inc. are working on a joint development to produce the next generation of flip-chip packages.

The agreement calls for ASE Electronics Malaysia, a wholly owned ASE Test subsidiary, to manufacture flip-chip packages according to the process and design specs developed by the new partners.

The resulting package, according to ASE, is "the first package designed for large silicon flip-chip packages used in very high I/O and large bandwidth applications."

Flip-chip interconnect joint after T/C "B" 1500 cycles

The packages will be specifically for die sizes of 20 mm x 20 mm or greater. These sizes usually contain more than 1000 I/O.

The difficulty in packaging large silicon die in an organic substrate results from the gross mismatch between the TCE of the silicon and the substrate material. The mismatches cause flip-chip interconnects to be severely stressed and failure-prone when the device is temp cycled.

The LTX Fusion test platform

Bob Hilton of MTBSolutions reports, "We have spent the past three years developing, defining and qualifying these design features and process techniques." ASE will offer the newly developed large flip-chip package in body sizes from 27 mm x 27 mm up to 52.5 mm x 52.5 mm.

The packages employ a high-density, high-speed substrate provided by AMITEC to overcome the problems with TCE mismatch. The substrate used includes a high glass-transition temperature (Tg) of 260°C. A low-k dielectric of 2.55 between lines and layers ensures signal integrity and speed, according to Hilton.

ASE and MTBSolutions have already applied for a variety of patents that relate to the design and assembly of the new package, according to the companies. [aseglobal.com]

Carsem Testing Wireless Bluetooth Chips

Ipoh, Malaysia-Carsem is employing LTX Corp.'s Fusion CX test system for Microtune's wireless Bluetooth devices.

"At Carsem, we are committed to establishing a long-term relationship with our customers, and this project demonstrated that commitment," said David Comley, Carsem's group managing director. [carsem.com]