K&S Licenses Copper Ball Bonding Technology To Advanced Semiconductor Engineering.Business Editors WILLOW GROVE Willow Grove may refer to:
Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :KLIC) announced that Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. ("ASE (Adaptive Server Enterprise) A relational DBMS from Sybase that runs on Windows NT/2000, Linux and a variety of Unix platforms. ASE is a comprehensive and robust data management product with a long history dating back to the late 1980s. " - NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : ASX ASX See: Australian Stock Exchange ) has signed an agreement to purchase a technology license and specialized equipment for Kulicke & Soffa's proprietary OP2 (SM) Oxidation Prevention Process, which is used in the manufacture of copper integrated circuits Integrated circuits Miniature electronic circuits produced within and upon a single semiconductor crystal, usually silicon. Integrated circuits range in complexity from simple logic circuits and amplifiers, about 1/20 in. (1. . ASE will be utilizing the technology, which combines a patent pending process and specialized equipment, to produce advanced copper wafer ball grid array “BGA” redirects here. For other uses, see BGA (disambiguation). A ball grid array (BGA) is a type of surface-mount packaging used for integrated circuits. (BGA (Ball Grid Array) A popular surface mount chip package that uses a grid of solder balls as its connectors. Available in plastic and ceramic varieties, BGA is noted for its compact size, high lead count and low inductance, which allows lower voltages to be used. ) packages at its Kaohsiung, Taiwan assembly facility. 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. K&S Program Director Michael Sheaffer, OP2 is the first commercially available technology for bonding of gold wire, routinely used in ball bonding Ball bonding is a type of wire bonding, and is the most common way to make the electrical interconnections between a microchip and the outside world as part of semiconductor device fabrication. processes, directly to a copper device. "Copper is extremely difficult to wire bond, because of the way it oxidizes," Sheaffer says." Until now, the only way to achieve reliable results was to add aluminum or other metal layers over the bond pads, increasing wafer fabrication cost by as much as $100 per wafer. The comparative cost of the OP2 process is a fraction of that amount. We believe our customers will embrace this alternative as copper continues to replace aluminum in high-performance packages." "Extensive reliability testing at ASE has shown that OP2 provides excellent results, and we expect the process to provide significant cost benefits to our customers," said ASE Vice President of Research & Development J.J. Lee. "The process will enable us to combine the performance of copper die with the economics of wire bonding to meet many of our customers' requirements for high-end, fine-pitch packages." OP2 adds a cluster tool process in the assembly factory just prior to wafer dicing. This tool removes native oxides from the copper wafer and protects it from further oxide growth during the dicing, die attach, curing, and wire bonding steps of semiconductor assembly interconnect. This patent-pending OP2 process has been designed to emulate the mechanisms that are characteristic of traditional gold wire bonding to an aluminum bond pad. Extensive metallurgical analysis has shown that the dynamics of conventional gold-to-aluminum ball bonding are maintained, even though the wafer material is different. About ASE Inc. ASE Inc. is one of the world's largest independent providers of semiconductor packaging services and, together with its subsidiary ASE Test Limited (NASDAQ:ASTSF), is one of the world's largest independent providers of semiconductor testing services, including front-end engineering testing, wafer probing and final testing services. The Company's international customer base includes more than 200 blue-chip companies. With advanced-process technological capabilities and a global presence spanning Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the United States, ASE Inc. has established a reputation for reliable, high quality products and services. For more information, visit the website, www.aseglobal.com. About Kulicke & Soffa Kulicke & Soffa is the world's leading supplier of semiconductor interconnect equipment, materials and technologies. Chip and wire solutions combine wafer dicing, 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 solder sphere attachment systems and 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 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. The company also markets factory management and shop floor control software. Kulicke & Soffa's web site address is www.kns.com. OP2 is a service mark of Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. |
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