K&S Folds Substrate Unit; Alex Oscilowski Furloughed By Ron Iscoff, Editor Willow Grove, Pa.-Kulicke & Soffa Inc. has shuttered its Substrate Division in Milpitas, Calif., ending what the company hoped would become its largest revenue producer. The supplier of interconnect equipment and materials will take a pre-tax charge of about $17 million in its fourth fiscal quarter ending September 30 in connection with the closure. Less than a week later, K&S announced that it had eliminated the office of president and had furloughed Alexander A. Oscilowski, its president of only four months "due to continued weakness in the semiconductor industry." C. Scott Kulicke, K&S chairman and CEO, assumed the president's duties. Before joining K&S as vice president of strategic marketing, Oscilowski was SEMATECH's CEO. K&S acquired the substrate business, based on MMS' proprietary X-LAM technology, from MicroModule Systems (MMS) of Cupertino, Calif., in January 1999, after MMS folded. Shortly after, K&S opened the renamed operation in a 35,0002 foot building in nearby Milpitas. MMS was a spinoff of Digital Equipment Corp., which DEC bought from Trilogy Systems, a one-time wafer-scale integration pioneer wanna-be.
The X-LAM technology, K&S announced, was designed to offer "line widths and via diameters 2-3 times smaller than current substrates." During SEMICON West 2000, Kulicke predicted that ultimately the company's Substrate Division would become its leading revenue producer. In a formal announcement, Kulicke said, "While our substrate operation was intended to be a key component in the company's strategy of supplying assembly solutions in the advanced interconnect space, it is highly capital intensive and requires ongoing cash infusions. "In today's volatile semiconductor industry, the most pressing issue is assuring the long-term financial strength of K&S. Therefore, the fiscally prudent course of action is to terminate the venture at this time." A K&S spokesman told Chip Scale Review that the division's 50 employees had been told that they need not report for work and would receive severance pay. Joel Camarda, president of the Substrate Division, has been reassigned to oversee the company's test business, according to K&S. Industry interpreters contacted by the magazine contend that the closure strikes another blow at the U.S.' ability to field a viable microvia business. Dr. Tom Di Stefano, president of Decision Track and a CSP pioneer, said, "It's a setback for the United States, which is already well behind Japan in exploiting microvias." K&S has not indicated whether it will keep the X-LAM technology or attempt to sell it. [kns.com]
Dr. Peter Barnwell Assumes Presidency of IMAPS Washington, D.C.-Dr. Peter Barnwell assumed the IMAPS presidency in time for September's IMAPS 2002 conference in Denver. He replaced Dr. Charles E. Bauer. Dr. Barnwell is director of advanced technologies for Heraeus's Circuit Materials Div. in West Conshohocken, Pa. He is a founding member of IMAPS UK chapter and the European Liaison Committee. [imaps.org]
WLP Forum Explores Key Issues Burn-In Power Demands May Limit Wafer-Level Adoption The high power levels needed to burn-in some ICs-central processing units, for example-are likely to keep these devices from being packaged at the wafer level for the foreseeable future. That's the prediction of Steve Greathouse, non-CPU pathfinding project manager at Intel Corp., Chandler, Ariz. "We're limited to memory, low-power handheld devices, network controllers and embedded products," Greathouse said. Speaking at a wafer-level packaging conference in Santa Clara, he said the key issues in burn-in and test at the wafer level include power distribution, contact technology and contact alignment. Issues in power distribution involve signal routing on the burn-in board and handling shorted die. Unlike package burn-in, shorted die can't be removed and need to be isolated, which requires additional circuitry. The contact technology, Greathouse added, can be problematic, and requires the ability to contact various surface metals, such as Cu wirebond pads and lead-free solder. An added quandry is the need to reburn or retest the entire wafer when only a small number of units are involved. The Intel presenter was one of 11 experts speaking at the all-day conference sponsored by Chip Scale Review and MEPTEC and presented by Microelectronics Forum.
Tessera Appoints Lee Smith Business Development Chief San Jose-Tessera Technologies Inc. has appointed Lee J. Smith director of business development. Smith was most recently director of new product development for Amkor Tech-nology Inc., Chandler, Ariz. He earned a bachelor's degree in industrial technology from the University of Wisconsin, Stout. [tessera.com] Shipley EIF Licenses Lucent's Electroplating Technology Freeport, N.Y.-The Shipley Company's Electronic and Industrial Finishing Div. has licensed various electroplating products, processes and services from Lucent's former Electroplating Chemicals & Services Div. Over the years, Lucent has developed a significant intellectual property portfolio, which includes electroplating tin and tin alloys and precision metal finishes such as palladium, palladium-nickel, gold and silver. The license, according to Shipley, "will greatly expand Shipley's line of electronic finishes." [shipley.com] |
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