The 3D InCites community members continue to create a buzz with announcements from new acquisitions to industry awards, new product introductions, events, job openings, and more. Here’s a collection of February member highlights.

Acquisitions, Partnerships and Collaborations

ASE announced a strategic partnership with Infineon Technologies, to acquire two back-end manufacturing facilities in Cavite, Philippines, and Cheonan, South Korea. The partnership also includes long-term supply agreements to meet Infineon’s current and future product requirements. Alexander Gorski, EVP and Head of Back-end Operations at Infineon, said the sale aligns with the company’s manufacturing strategy, balancing in-house and external manufacturing; while emphasizing the amplification of synergies and strengthening supply chain resilience through this collaboration with ASE. Dr. Tien Wu, CEO of ASE Inc. & COO of ASE Technology Holding, noted that the acquisition reflects ASE’s commitment to establishing a long-term partnership with Infineon, particularly in developing backend manufacturing solutions tailored to future growth opportunities, with a strategic focus on the automotive and power management market segments.

Both Siemens Digital Industries Software and Cadence announced collaborations with  Intel Foundry to enable heterogeneous integration with embedded multi-die interconnect bridge (EMIB) packaging technology.  Siemens’ DIS plans to leverage its IC and PCB design portfolios to cover planning and prototyping, all the way to enabling signoff across a broad range of integration technologies including FCBGA, 2.5/3D IC, and others. to develop and deliver a certified reference flow for EMIB technology.

Cadence and Intel aim to tackle the increasing complexity of heterogeneously integrated multi-chip architectures, helping Intel Foundry leverage advanced packaging, and expediting design processes in high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), and mobile computing. The advanced EMIB flow facilitates a smooth transition for design teams. It allows them to move seamlessly from early-stage system-level planning, optimization, and analysis to DRC-aware implementation and physical signoff without data conversion between different formats. 

PulseForge is excited to partner with imec to accelerate the adoption of 2D materials for next-generation electronic devices. The company is spearheading efforts to drive the global adoption of 2D materials in devices and packages using its photonic debonding technology for successful 2D material transfer. imec, and PulseForge have successfully demonstrated extremely clean transfer of 2D materials on a 300 mm wafer scale with minimal residue and over 99.5% transfer yield, propelling the integration of these materials into electronic devices and systems. The initial findings of this work were presented at the IMAPS Symposium in October 2023. This collaboration also enables imec researchers to pursue sequential TMDC layer transfer for stacked nanosheet applications.

Notable Achievements

AT&S recently participated in the international non-profit sustainability platform, Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) assessment. The company consistently improved its scores in “Climate Protection” and “Water Security.” “It’s great that we are above the industry average in both categories. This shows that we not only play a pioneering role in the electronics industry in economic terms but are also implementing extensive measures in terms of environmental protection, setting new standards,” says Marina Hornasek-Metzl, AT&S Sr. Director, Corporate ESG.

Onto Innovation Inc. and its Tucson, Arizona, subsidiary, 4D Technology Corporation, received FANUC America Corporation’s esteemed 2024 Innovative System of the Year Award for their 4Di InSpec automated metrology system (AMS). The system, designed for aviation, aerospace, and industrial manufacturing applications, offers automated surface defect and feature metrology. Distinguished by patented vibration-immune technology, the 4Di InSpec AMS allows non-contact, three-dimensional optical metrology on the production floor, achieving new levels of defect inspection with micrometer-level resolution. Developed in collaboration with OptiPro Systems, multiple 4Di InSpec AMS systems were successfully deployed in the latter half of 2023 to prominent aerospace engine manufacturers.

New Offerings

Siemens Digital Industries Software launches the Veloce™ CS hardware-assisted verification and validation system, heralding a new benchmark in the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry. Veloce CS is a solution that integrates hardware emulation, enterprise prototyping, and software prototyping. At its core, the system features two cutting-edge integrated circuits: Siemens’ innovative Crystal accelerator chip for emulation and the AMD Versal Premium VP1902 FPGA adaptive System-on-a-chip (SoC) for enterprise and software prototyping. This innovative integration establishes Veloce CS as a comprehensive solution, representing a significant advancement in EDA technology.

StratEdge Corporation announced its capabilities for making hybrid packages used in legacy applications where redesigns are difficult or impossible. These hybrid packages, often developed decades ago, are still vital in many critical defense applications. This provides a sustainable and cost-effective approach to maintaining vital defense, military, and aerospace devices.

Plan Optik AG introduced its Wafer Universe, an online shop for its European customers. The goal is to provide its full line of standardized wafers with a focus on streamlining procurement and ensuring rapid delivery.

People on the Move

ERS Electronic appointed Debbie-Claire Sanchez to the role of Vice President of the newly formed Advanced Packaging Equipment Solutions (APEqS) business unit. Debbie joined ERS in 2019 as Strategic Product Manager for the company’s Fan-out Business Unit, bringing 9 years of experience in wafer- and panel-level packaging. She started her career at Deca Technologies in the Philippines, working on the development of the wafer and panel reconstruction process for the “M-Series” technology. Later, she was deployed to ASE Technology Holding Co. in Taiwan where she led the knowledge transfer.

Industry Events

Siemens is hosting Realize LIVE. This year’s event will present in-depth technical content, product previews, and the first look at new solutions. Participants will also have access to Siemens experts, insights on the industry’s future, and fresh perspectives and best practices from Siemens customers.

MKS’ Atotech announces its participation in the inaugural India Semiconductor and Packaging Ecosystem Conference (ISPEC), scheduled to take place at the Radisson RED Hotel in Mohali, Punjab, India, from February 29 to March 2. ISPEC aims to foster a comprehensive ecosystem, bringing together India’s researchers, developers, manufacturers, suppliers, and users. At booth 21, Atotech product experts will discuss challenges in the dynamic package substrate technology landscape, addressing the rapidly changing industry requirements. Atotech’s solutions, featuring advanced chemistries and cutting-edge equipment, are designed to provide customized and innovative solutions for the semiconductor industry’s evolving needs. Kuldip Johal, Global OEM Pathfinding Director Electronics, will highlight end-to-end packaging supply chains worldwide in the Global Supply Chain session on March 2, emphasizing growth in India. Naveen Goudar, Managing Director India, will discuss process chemicals and tools for semiconductor advanced packaging. Attendees are invited to join the conference, visit the booth, and explore how MKS’ Atotech can assist in navigating complexities from printed circuit board to package substrate to semiconductor advanced packaging.

Three presentations from Brewer Science were featured at the SPIE Advanced Lithography and Patterning conference. All three presentations share a common theme of advancing materials and processes in semiconductor manufacturing and optical device fabrication. The presentations focus on improving performance and efficiency in their respective domains through the exploration of novel materials, underlayers, and fabrication techniques.

The ESD Alliance, a SEMI Technology Community, and ESD Alliance member company, Silicon Assurance, are hosting an industry panel and discussion webinar on Thursday, March 14, from 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. PST. The panel discussion will be moderated by Raj Gautam Dutta, CEO and co-founder of Silicon Assurance, a company focused on addressing trust and security assurance in the chip design flow. Register here.

Career Opportunities 

Veeco‘s Director of Mechanical Engineering, Edward Budriss, is hiring a Staff Mechanical Engineer to join his CIP and R&D team based in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Read about this opportunity here.

Yield Engineering Systems is highlighting a job opening for a  Senior Product & Program Manager in Fremont, California. The company also has several openings worldwide. Find them all here.

Community Members Call to Action

Community Members, if we missed your news this month, we want to know! Please make sure you send your latest press releases to us or let us know what you’re up to! While we try to keep track of all of you on social media, sometimes things slip by our radar.