K&S Announces New Lead-Free Flip Chip Bump Alloy; Internal evaluation shows high reliability and extremely low alpha emissions.Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers WILLOW GROVE Willow Grove may refer to:
Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: KLIC) today announced the results of an intensive comparative evaluation of the industry standard eutectic flip chip A chip packaging technique in which the active area of the chip is "flipped over" facing downward. Instead of facing up and bonded to the package leads with wires from the outside edges of the chip, any surface area of the flip chip can be used for interconnection, which is typically done bump alloy, a 63% tin/lead combination, versus a new ultra-pure, lead-free alloy developed by the K&S Flip Chip Division. The new K&S alloy, LF-2, demonstrated alpha emissions well below the detection limits of existing measuring equipment and also exhibited higher reliability and a significant improvement in electromigration. Alpha particle alpha particle, one of the three types of radiation resulting from natural radioactivity. Alpha radiation (or alpha rays) was distinguished and named by E. R. emissions are a common by-product by·prod·uct or by-prod·uct n. 1. Something produced in the making of something else. 2. A secondary result; a side effect. by-product Noun 1. of impurities that exist naturally in metals. These emissions can affect the performance of chips used in memory and microprocessors by actually corrupting data. Electromigration can reduce a microprocessor's service life. It is highly desirable to minimize both of these characteristics in an environmentally friendly Environmentally friendly, also referred to as nature friendly, is a term used to refer to goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm on the environment.[1] alloy that improves flip chip solder joint reliability. K&S Flip Chip Division President Gil Olachea said, "A product like this is the culmination of four years of materials research and development and comes once in a lifetime. When we combined ultra-clean, ultra-pure materials with our robust manufacturing process, we established that the alpha emissions were an order of magnitude A change in quantity or volume as measured by the decimal point. For example, from tens to hundreds is one order of magnitude. Tens to thousands is two orders of magnitude; tens to millions is three orders of magnitude, etc. lower than our existing ultra-low alpha alloy. We believe this alloy's superior performance will enable us to capture a significant portion of the market for solder bumped flip chip and wafer level packages." According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. TechSearch International, Inc., the market for solder bump devices, including wafer level packages, will approach 10 billion units in 2005. Mr. Olachea says qualifications of the new alloy already are underway at several significant memory, logic and wireless communications wireless communications System using radio-frequency, infrared, microwave, or other types of electromagnetic or acoustic waves in place of wires, cables, or fibre optics to transmit signals or data. device manufacturers. The lead-free alloy, a tin/silver/copper combination, achieves alpha emissions of 0.0002 alpha particles/hour/cm2 compared to more than 1 alpha particle/hour/cm2 for the standard eutectic alloy eu·tec·tic alloy n. An alloy that is generally brittle, easily melted, and subject to tarnish and corrosion, used primarily in dental solders. . Electromigration resistance improves by more than 3.7 times versus eutectic and more than 4 times versus tin/silver plated bumps. According to Mr. Olachea, FCD FCD FC Dallas (soccer) FCD Foundation for Child Development FCD Floating Car Data (now generally superseded by FDV) FCD Flood and Coastal Defence (UK) FCD Flood Control District had to develop special techniques to quantify these "near zero" alpha emissions. Vice President Technology Licensing Don R. May said, "While development of lead-free alloys has traditionally resulted from environmental concerns, our initial high-volume applications will be driven by the alloy's ability to reduce emissions and increase reliability. That, in itself, is a testament to the exceptional performance this promising alloy can provide." About Kulicke & Soffa Kulicke & Soffa is the world's leading supplier of semiconductor interconnect equipment, materials and technology. Chip and wire solutions combine wafer dicing Wafer dicing is the process by which individual silicon chips or integrated circuits on a silicon wafer are separated following the processing of the wafer. The dicing process can be accomplished by scribing and breaking, by mechanical sawing (normally with a machine called a , die bonding and wire bonding equipment with saw blades, die collets, wire and capillaries. Flip chip solutions include wafer bumping technology, die placement equipment and UltraVia(TM) high density substrates. Chip scale and wafer level packaging solutions include Ultra CSP (1) (Certified Systems Professional) An earlier award for successful completion of an ICCP examination in systems development. See ICCP. (2) (Commerce Service P (R) technology. Test interconnect solutions include standard and vertical probe cards, ATE interface assemblies and ATE boards for wafer testing, and test sockets and contactors for all types of packages. Kulicke & Soffa's web site address is www.kns.com. Caution Concerning Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements which are found in various places throughout the press release. While these forward-looking statements represent our judgments and future expectations concerning the development of our business, a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors could cause actual developments and results to differ materially from our expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to, those listed or discussed in Kulicke & Soffa Industries' 2000 Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. , subsequent Form 10Q's, and: acts of terrorism; overall global economic conditions; the risk of order postponements or cancellations; the risks associated with a substantial foreign customer base; potential instability in foreign capital markets; foreign currency fluctuations; the volatility in the demand for semiconductors and the Company's products and services; the risk that the Company will not be successful in making technological advances and in not obtaining cost efficiencies associated with recent acquisitions; and other key factors that could adversely affect its businesses and financial performance contained in past and future filings and reports, including those with the SEC. Kulicke & Soffa Industries is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligations to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. |
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