Category Archives: Packaging

Semiconductor Assembly and Test Services (SATS) Market and Leaders

Semiconductor Assembly and Test Services are converting rapidly into a pure outsourcing mode of operation. While today perhaps only 50% of the market is using Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT, or SATS) this number is set to increase in the future.
 
While many of the low-end suppliers are

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QFN Package Overview

qfn

QFN package is probably the most successful package type today. Offering low price, excellent performance and small size, it is an ideal package for many applications.

 
QFN (quad-flat no-leads) is a plastic SMT package consisting of: a leadframe, single or multiple dies, wirebonds and a molding compound. The

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Packaging and Delivery Methodology for: wafer, die and ICs

gel-pack

There are many ways to deliver, package and transport silicon products. Here’s a short primer that provides the basic facts regarding how silicon can be packed and delivered to ensure safe transportation with minimum damages.
 
There are two main options for receiving wafers from your foundry: tested or untested.
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Copper (Cu) Wire Bonding Technical Benefits Overview

We love copper (Cu) wire. In fact, we already described in our post “Copper Wire (Cu) Reduces Package Cost” the cost advantages of copper wire bonding compared to Gold (Au) wire. Copper wire introduced some challenges to assembly houses (such as ASE, Amkor, STATS ChipPAC) but also offers a few

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Copper Wire (Cu) Bonding Reduces Package Cost

copper-wire-bonding

Do you know someone that is not eager to reduce their ASIC production costs? I don’t.  Some say that redesign changes can lead to significant cost reduction, for instance – using a more advanced silicon technology node to shrink the die size. True, but this is a really big, painful

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BGA Substrate Design

Very often IC package design requires designing a BGA substrate. Substrate design and layout is very similar to any other PCB design. The difference is that the substrate size is much smaller than most of the PCBs you have seen. In this post we do something a bit unusual and

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