Industry News — CSRTM January Issue

Quik-Pak Offers Copper Wire Bonding Services

Copper wire bonding is fast becoming the preferred material for wire bonding in many semiconductor and microelectronic applications. It has higher thermal and electrical conductivity than gold and aluminum wire and is mechanically stronger than both. Once bonded under a protective reducing gas atmosphere, copper wire has excellent ball neck strength and loop stability during encapsulation. Additionally, intermetallic growth in copper bonds is significantly slower than in gold wire bonds resulting in lower electrical resistance, lower heat generation, and increased long-term bond reliability.

In response to this growing trend, microelectronic packaging and assembly house, Quik-Pak, a division of Delphon Industries has expanded its wire bonding capabilities to fully support copper wire bonding on its K&S Maxum Ultra wire bonder. The company offers copper ball bonding using wires with diameters ranging from 20µm (0.8 mil) to 30µm (1.2 mils), and can reportedly support prototype and pre-production volumes. "We've had copper wire bonding capability for some time but did not fully utilize it until recently," says Steve Swendrowski, General Manager Quik-Pak. "Our business model has always been to support our customers' desire to build prototypes using the same package and materials set used in volume production. This now applies to the wire type, as well." Wires sizes currently in stock include 25µm (1.0 mil) bare copper and palladium coated copper.

Multitest Names New VP of Global Sales & Marketing

Multitest appointed James Quinn to Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing. Based in Rosenheim, Jim will be responsible for managing customer relationships throughout the global market. He will direct efforts in the service and application engineering areas to support Multitest's customers through a network of direct and indirect channels.

"I am very excited to join the Multitest team in Germany. The company drives innovation with unique offerings such as Plug & Yield® and places a great emphasis on customer orientation. I think it is a great organization of talented people with an exceptional product and customer portfolio," said Quinn.

Jim brings a strong semiconductor background and has served as Executive VP responsible for Sales & Marketing at respected companies including SUSS MicroTec AG, MD of SUSS MicroTec Inc. in the U.S., and most recently as CEO of Replisaurus, a venture capital wafer front-end equipment company in Sweden and France. He studied business administration and marketing at San Francisco State University.

Andreas R. Dill joins SEMI Europe Advisory Board

While semiconductor technology is considered a "must have" key technology worldwide, it is especially vital to Europe. As the primary organization giving a definitive voice to the industry in Europe, SEMI Europe relies heavily on its board to actively participate and promote the industry in Europe. The most recent addition to this advisory board is Andreas R. Dill, CEO of Oerlikon Advanced Technologies, who was appointed in December.

"We are pleased that we have gained an additional recognized expert and leader for our SEMI European Advisory Board," said Heinz Kundert, President of SEMI Europe. "I have known Andreas personally for many years and can describe him as strong business leader with expertise in both semiconductor and photovoltaic. We look forward to his strategic guidance, and share his industry insights and represent the collective interests of our members."

"As a member of the SEMI European Advisory Board, I am happy to personally contribute to fostering growth and importance of the industry in Europe." Stated Dill.

Dill holds a MEng in Electrical Engineering from the ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Since joining OC Oerlikon Balzers AG, Balzers, Liechtenstein in 1998, Andreas Dill has served in a succession of senior management positions, including General Manager Wafer Processing Europe and Vice President Global Strategic Business Units. In July 2007 Andreas Dill took over the responsibility for the Business Unit Systems (manufacturing equipment for Semiconductors, Optical Disc and Advanced Nanotechnology) at Oerlikon as a Senior Vice President. Since 2010 he serves as CEO Oerlikon Advanced Technologies. He is also a board member of Colibrys and Cicor Technology.

Amkor's Next-Gen Through Mold Via Package-on-Package Sales Surpass 100M Units

Amkor Technology, Inc. , provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test services (OSATS), have reportedly shipped more than 100M units of its proprietary Through Mold Via (TMV®) Package-on-Package (PoP), an enabling technology targeting smartphone and tablet applications.

"This is a significant milestone for a technology we launched just last year," said Mike Lamble, executive V.P., worldwide sales and product management, Amkor. "Today, most smartphones and tablets utilize PoP for CPU and memory stacking. With the higher integration and density trends in these devices, we are seeing a rapid transition to TMV PoP solutions."

TMV PoP reportedly improves warpage control, reduces package thickness, facilitates finer pitch memory interfaces, enables both wirebond and flip chip interconnects, and supports stacked die or passive integration requirements.