What’s Changing In DRAM


More data requires more processing and more storage, because that data needs to be stored somewhere. What’s changing is that it’s no longer just about SRAM and DRAM. Today, multiple types of DRAM are used in the same devices, each with its own set of tradeoffs. C.S. Lin, marketing executive at Winbond, talks about the potential problems that causes, including mismatches in latency, and high... » read more

Many More Hurdles In Heterogeneous Integration


Advanced packaging options continue to stack up in the pursuit of “More than Moore” and higher levels of integration. It has become a place where many high-density interconnects converge, and where many new and familiar problems need to be addressed. The industry’s first foray into fine-pitch multi-die packaging utilized silicon interposers with through-silicon vias (TSVs) to deliver s... » read more

Bump Reliability is Challenged By Latent Defects


Thermal stress is a well-known problem in advanced packaging, along with the challenges of mechanical stress. Both are exacerbated by heterogenous integration, which often requires mingling materials with incompatible coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE). Effects are already showing up and will likely only get worse as package densities increase beyond 1,000 bumps per chip. “You comb... » read more

The Path To Known Good Interconnects


Chiplets and heterogenous integration (HI) provide a compelling way to continue delivering improvements in performance, power, area, and cost (PPAC) as Moore’s Law slows, but choosing the best way to connect these devices so they behave in consistent and predictable ways is becoming a challenge as the number of options continues to grow. More possibilities also bring more potential interac... » read more

Bump Co-Planarity And Inconsistencies Cause Yield, Reliability Issues


Bumps are a key component in many advanced packages, but at nanoscale levels making sure all those bumps have a consistent height is an increasing challenge. Without co-planarity, surfaces may not properly adhere. That can reduce yield if the problem is not identified in packaging, or it can cause reliability problems in the field. Identifying those issues requires a variety of process steps... » read more

Enabling Test Strategies For 2.5D, 3D Stacked ICs


Improved testability, coupled with more tests at more insertion points, are emerging as key strategies for creating reliable, heterogeneous 2.5D and 3D designs with sufficient yield.  Many changes need to fall into place to make side-by-side 2.5D and 3D stacking approaches cost-effective, particularly for companies looking to integrate chiplets from different vendors. Today, nearly all of t... » read more

Hybrid Bonding Moves Into The Fast Lane


The industry’s unquenchable thirst for I/O density and faster connections between chips, particularly logic and cache memory, is transforming system designs to include 3D architectures, and hybrid bonding has become an essential component in that equation. Hybrid bonding involves die-to-wafer or wafer-to-wafer connection of copper pads that carry power and signals and the surrounding diele... » read more

Artificial intelligence deep learning for 3D IC reliability prediction


New research from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, National Center for High-Performance Computing (Taiwan), Tunghai University, MA-Tek Inc, and UCLA. Abstract "Three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) technologies have been receiving much attention recently due to the near-ending of Moore’s law of minimization in 2D IC. However, the reliability of 3D IC, which is greatly infl... » read more

Advanced mm-Wave And Terahertz Measurements With Cascade Probe Stations


The strong market needs to embed multiple functionalities from different semiconductor processing technologies into a single system continue to drive demands for more advanced 3DIC packaging technologies. Dimensions of copper pillar micro-bumps are consistently reduced in every new technology node to facilitate the 3D stacking of multiple dies so that overall system performance can be improved.... » read more

Advanced Packaging’s Next Wave


Packaging houses are readying the next wave of advanced packages, enabling new system-level chip designs for a range of applications. These advanced packages involve a range of technologies, such as 2.5D/3D, chiplets, fan-out and system-in-package (SiP). Each of these, in turn, offers an array of options for assembling and integrating complex dies in an advanced package, providing chip custo... » read more

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