TEL
NEXX Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Electron U.S. Holdings,
has announced a new multi-year joint development program in 3D
semiconductor packaging with IBM. TEL NEXX has collaborated with IBM
R&D for many years (as NEXX Systems) to develop new concepts for
interposers, lead-free bumping, microbumps, and other cutting-edge
interconnect solutions. Now denser packaging and more energy-conscious
requirements are pushing semiconductor chip designs and equipment to
deliver and accommodate more functionality, as 3D structures become a
production reality. The program announced focuses on meeting IBM’s
rigorous technology requirements through its partners in the
Semiconductor Research and Development Alliance. TEL NEXX will
contribute its most advanced production tools to the venture, including
the Apollo for physical vapor deposition (PVD), the Stratus for
electrochemical deposition (ECD), among others, to study both complex
substrates and tool design.

“The challenges offered through
our collaboration with IBM, one of the most distinguished technology
innovators in the semiconductor industry, keeps us innovating as a
company,” said Tom
Walsh, TEL NEXX president. “The opportunity to work with IBM represents a chance to produce
the world’s latest, greatest, and most production focused technologies.
Enhanced Apollo PVD technology promises an economically efficient
solution for barrier seed deposition. Stratus ECD will be deployed in
developing plating interconnects, among other 3D structures. We’re
aiming to meet levels of productivity and reliability that solve
problems only now being formulated in IBM’s advanced labs.”

Last
year (2011), the Stratus plating platform for 300 mm lead-free packaging was
qualified to serve the stringent reliability requirements across IBM’s
product family, including high-end and low-end servers and a wide range
of custom logic products. IBM’s next-generation server products are
challenged to demonstrate trouble-free lifetimes of up to twenty years.
Meeting that goal requires a near-perfect processing environment
provided by the PVD and ECD production tools. The new IBM-TEL NEXX
collaboration is squarely aimed at unraveling and solving these types of
challenges.

Source:  TEL NEXX Inc.