Dow Chemical Moves Into Component Production; Wafer-Scale Integration is the Target
Dow's Advanced Electronics Materials Group has taken what might be the first of several steps to "forward integrate" its electronics chemicals business into production of components themselves. And one of the first steps its new venture, called Intarsia Corp., has taken is to license the Micro SMR wafer-level packaging technology of ChipScale, Inc. (San Jose, Calif.).
The immediate target is thin-film integrated passive components, including resistors, capacitors, inductors and networked arrays of these devices. Wireless communication products, workstations, mobile computing and data storage are among the targeted applications. Dow cites market data from Prismark Partners LLC (Cold Spring, N.Y.) to the effect that discrete passives account for 90 percent of the components in typical electronic systems, and as much as 98 percent of some wireless systems. Integration of these passives into board-mounted components can have a major impact on the cost, performance, size and weight of these end products.
In mid-December, Dow took the wraps off a joint venture with Flextronics International Ltd., called Intarsia. Intarsia, currently headquartered in San Jose, is moving to new facilities in Fremont, Calif., where it will have 50 employees and 15,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Dow is the majority owner of the venture. The venture will allow Dow to leverage material and manufacturing expertise it has developed internally, says Pat McCroskey, business development manager at Dow. Flextronics will provide design and processing technology as an extension of its business of contract manufacturing for assembling discrete passives into electronic assemblies.
Wafer-level packaging
Then, in early January, Intarsia made it first move toward innovative products: It licensed the wafer-level packaging technology of ChipScale, Inc., brandnamed Micro SMR. Jim Young, vice president for business development at Intarsia, explains that ChipScale offers unique methods for encapsulating devices before the wafer is broken up into individual chips. "A very high percentage of the final cost of packaged passive components is the packaging itself," he says. "This provides a way to dramatically reduce the cost of the final component."
Photo courtesy of ChipScale
Examples of the degree of miniaturization achieved with ChipScale's wafer-level packaging.
Young says that initially, at least, Intarsia is going to be working with glass, rather than silicon, wafers, and using thin-film and microlithography techniques to build the integrated passives. Eight- and 16-lead devices will be offered. Sample products are available now, but fullscale production will begin in the third quarter. Both standard and custom products will be produced. "We're going to be different from other suppliers not only because we're using innovative process technology, but also because we will be one of the few places where you can get design, development and production of integrated passives from the wafer onward," he says.
Dow's McCroskey adds that Dow will be contributing both material and process technology to Intarsia. One of the products that will find ready use is its Cyclotene resin, which is a photosensitive, B-staged bisbenzocyclobutene. This resin is widely used for creating thin dielectric layers, as well as for passivation or chemical resistance in ICs. Cyclotene is available in three grades, of 35 percent, 40 percent and 46 percent resin content (mesitylene solvent), as well as a dry-etch series.
"Chip-scale packaging is an enabling technology," said Intarsia CEO Harry Van Wickle, "that will drive a broad industry implementation of integrated passive components. The cost reduction, performance enhancement and size and weight decrease afforded by the Micro SMT approach is unprecedented in the evolution of electronic packaging." Van Wickle, who was named CEO when Intarsia was formed, is a 25-year veteran of electronic components manufacturing. He has established and managed major operations for Texas Instruments, Fairchild Semiconductor, AT&T, Cypress Semiconductor and Micropolis.
By Nicholas Basta
Dow Chemical Co., Electronic Materials Division, 2030 Dow Center, Midland, MI 48674.
Tel: 800-441-4369; Fax: 517-636-7085.
Intarsia Corp., San Jose, CA. Tel: 510-354-6325.
ChipScale, Inc., 576 Charcot Avenue, San Jose, CA. Tel: 408-955-9180; Fax: 408-955-9182.