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Advancing Microelectronics • Volume 28, No. 6 • November/December 2001

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European Activities & Calendar of Events

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UK:

Meetings Programme:

• Microtech 2002 — CALL FOR PAPERS

The UK Chapter of the INTERNATIONAL MICROELECTRONICS AND PACKAGING SOCIETY is now calling for papers for the MicroTech 2002 Conference and Exhibition at Manchester 29th and 30th January 2002.

MicroTech 2002 is focused on advances in Microtechnology and Materials. MEMS, Chip Scale Packaging, Reliability, Ceramics, Polymers, Adhesives and Lead-Free Solder are included in the subjects covered by papers planned for the Conference. The Table-Top Exhibition will be an opportunity for visitors to the Conference and those specifically attending the exhibition to meet with Exhibitors in fields linked to the Conference.

Engineers and Scientists working in these fields are encouraged to present papers at the twin Conferences by submitting an informative Abstract of their intended paper. The Call for Papers must close on September 30th, 2001. IMAPS welcomes submission of original or highly topical presentations.

These should be sent to David Lowrie, Technical Chairman of MicroTech 2002, c/o IMAPS-UK, 4 The Close, Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln LN4 2PB, UK.

The MicroTech 2002 Conference and Exhibition will be held on Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th January 2002.

Responding to the many suggestions about location in the UK, the MicroTech 2002 Conference will take place in Manchester at its premier hotel, Crowne Plaza, (The Midland) Manchester.

Further information on MicroTech 2002 is available from:

The Secretariat IMAPS-UK, 4 The Close, Bracebridge Heath,

Lincoln LN4 2PB

Tel: +44 (0) 1522 575212 or Fax: +44 (0) 1522 575582

E-mail: office@imaps.org.uk

www.imaps.org.uk/events/events.html

News from the Chapter:

• New Committee

Following the last Annual General Meeting a new committee has been established. Comprised of:

Chairman: Nihal Sinnadurai

Vice-Chairman: Gary Woodford

Past Chairman: David Lowrie

Other members: Michael Whiteside, Malcolm Wilkinson, Kelvin Williams, Jenni Green and Eric Murray.

• New website

Please visit the new completely revised IMAPS-UK website:

www.imaps.org.uk/welcome.html

Business Trade/Industry News:

• HOW ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN!

Who would have expected 12 months ago to see the mighty Marconi have its shares suspended on the stock market as they fell from £12.50 each last September to below £1 followed by the resignation of chairman Lord Simpson? But it happened and is a reflection of what is going on generally in the high-tech market here in the UK as well as elsewhere. The Confederation of British Industry recently estimated that a further high-tech jobs would go between July and September this year. Even Scotland and Wales which at first seemed more likely to escape the purge are suffering: the high concentration of chip manufacture and opto activity in Scotland has seen so many of its hopes dashed with Kymata for example perhaps saved by its sell-off to Alcatel, whilst the epitaxial wafer producer IQE in Cardiff is experiencing much reduction in orders but hopes that demands for wireless products will pick up early next year. The Hybrid Industry is seeing a reflection of the down-turn with equipment supplier DEK making 120 redundancies. The TT group which contains amongst others Welwyn at Bedlington says it is experiencing the worst vivibility it has ever had and that some more redundancies are possible but there is an underlying confidence that some sectors such as medical and automotive have good potential for the group. Confidence in the future comes also from Portsmouth based Extec Integrated Systems (formerly Extec Hybrids) which has ultra fine-line technology, thin film laminate technology, power and optical products and more recently systems manufacture as recent additions to capability.

At last the Ministry of Defence has placed the contract for the Bowman battlefield radio which will inject £2.5bn into the market which with increase in activity on EFA requirements and one or two other major defence projects may help the recovery. A recent report by financiers PricewaterhouseCoopers says that UK technology firms invested nearly £3bn last year and a 6% increase is expected this year: this was the highest figure in Europe. More investment is to take place at the BAe Systems electronics plant in Edinburgh but it is having difficulty in finding the required skilled staff. Better news also from the Filtronic 6in Ga As wafer fab where useful deals with M/A Com and BAe have been announced. Another financial report predicts a further £1.4 bn will be invested in the UK into communications technology this year.

Small companies are also prospering in some sectors. The wireless start-up company Norwood was awarded the Best Business Product at the Bluetooth Conference for its enterprise mobility voice-over-Bluetooth network.

Results of research continue to filter through with Glasgow university having developed a micromachined optical switch, Surrey university has developed a method of reducing dramatically the variation in the behaviour of semiconductor hettero structure devices made during molecular beam epitaxy and Philips Research at Redhill has a low-temperature construction technique for active matrix LCDs that offers economy of power consumption. Let us hope that what goes down must come up!

BCW

Benelux:

Meetings Programme:

• Autumn event and 25 years anniversary

SEMINAR: The road towards lead-free soldering

Where are we with respect to green solder technology?

Date and location: Friday November 16, 2001, Auditorium Philips CFT, Eindhoven

Topics:

• Lead-free soldering, a part of environmentally conscious manufacturing

• Introduction determined by EU rules or market drive?

• Practical experience

• Required actions

Chairman:

Dr. N.J.A. van Veen

Pre-development micro-electronics

Philips CFT, Eindhoven

For more information : imaps.benelux@chello.be

Nordic:

News from the Chapter:

• 30 year Anniversary conference

Please find info from the chapter on the web: www.imapsnordic.org

Business Trade/Industry News:

• Selmic, Finland

On the 24th of August the world’s most northern cleanroom with a LTCC line was officially opened.

Selmic Oy, based in Kemi, Finland, celebrated the opening of its micromodule factory extension. Selmic now has about 2000m2 in Kemi, of which 400m2 is cleanroom. Processes in controlled environments include wafer dicing, chip handling, COB&wirebonding, encapsulation and manufacturing of LTCC substrates.

“Dirty” processes like SMD, laser trimming, final assembly and testing are sited outside the cleanroom.

In all process steps needed for today’s microelectronics, there is now capacity for really high volume production. And plans for the next expansion are already on the table.

In addition to the above mentioned manufacturing services, Selmic also provides electronics and layout design, process development, and complete turn key solutions for today’s microelectronics markets.

Today Selmic supplies products for instrumentation, telecom, military, mobile terminal, medical, optical etc. markets, and new applications are born almost daily.

The strategy of Selmic is to give our customers maximum cost effectiveness by working closely with them already in the design phase, and develop the right processes.

The Selmic slogan says: “Together we create the future”

www.selmic.com

• Finnish LTCC seminar — R&D, Industry, Government

In Oulu a Finnish seminar organised by Oulu University, the research organisation VTT and TEKES took place 31.8.01. Tekes, the National Technology Agency is the main financing organization for applied and industrial research and development (R&D) in Finland. The funds for financing are awarded from the state budget via the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

To illustrate the focus areas for LTCC, some topics are listed:

1) Dense LTCC- modules in RF- applications

- fine-line printing, UV- patterning, fine-etching

- material evaluations and test results

2) Passive integration

- RF-simulations and test designs

- measurement and test results

3) Integrated Ceramic Micromodules

4) Inspection and reliability of LTCC assemblies (Prof. Risto Rautioaho)

5) Discussion on R&D- and industrial exploitation of LTCC.

• New Technology Trend for Microelectronics in Automotive Applications.

There is currently a new big market coming up in the automotive sector. The reason is that in USA from the middle of 2003 there will be the requirement that more than 35% of new cars sold in USA at that time must have a measuring equipment, measuring the weight of each person sitting either in the driver’s seat or in the other front seat. This weight measure is then fed into a computer which makes a decision how much the Air Bag has to blow in order to protect the person sitting in the seat.

This has forced ALL CAR MANUFACTURERS selling cars to USA to find solutions to the problem of measuring the weight of the person sitting in the car seats. The dominating solution, pushed in Scandinavia, USA and Japan is to print the weight sensors as thick film resistors, interconnected in a Wheatstone bridge configuration where two resistors are compressed and two resistors are elongated.

Because the seats in a car have to be mechanically safe during a collision, the demand on the mechanical integrity of the seat is severe. Therefore these thick film resistor sensors have to be printed on stainless steel beams say 20 mm wide and 9 mm thick. In order to make these resistor printings, the actual area of the beam has first to be printed by a dielectric layer (actually 3 printed layers) about 75 µm thick in total.

The market for just this application is very big. Usually there are 4 thick film weight sensors in each chair, which imply 8 thick film sensors per car sold in USA. Therefore the market from year 2003 - in USA only — will be 0,35 x 15 million x 8 = 42 million thick film sensors per year.

This new application and its requirements have resulted in high focus at the major Scandinavian car manufacturers cooperating with the leading local microelectronics automotive subcontractors.

This development has also started another interesting trend in the automotive area. Thick Film circuits can be built on stainless steel substrates with printed dielectrics. These circuits can then be printed on big panels lowering the cost per circuit. The steel substrates are something which is fitting into the automotive industry very well. This in turn will have a positive influence on the thick film industry!

Hans Danielsson, Mikroelektronik Konsult

Germany:

Meetings Programme:

• 14th EUROPEAN MICROELECTRONICS AND PACKAGING CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION

Friedrichshafen / Germany, June 23-25, 2003

The Call for Papers is out: The Technical Program Committee of EMPC 2003 invites abstracts of unpublished work describing recent developments in Microelectronics and Packaging.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

- Materials & Technologies (Thick/Thin film, LTCC, Advanced PCBs, MCMs, FlipChip, CSP, COB, SMT)

- Design & Modelling (DFM, thermal/electrical/mechanical simulations, CAD-tools)

- Manufacturing & Processes (HDI-Processing, Large Area Processing)

- Applications (RF/Microwave, Power Packaging, Automotive, Avionics, Advanced Packages, Medical)

- Quality & Reliability (Test and Inspection techniques, 1st/2nd level package reliability, qualification standards)

- Environment (Green materials, Lead free products, Product Recycling, Waste Recycling)

For any further information please contact EMPC 2003.

c/o AKM Congress Service GmbH, Hauptstrasse 18, D-79576 Weil am Rhein / Germany

Phone: +49 7621 98 33 33; Fax: +49 7621 78 714

Please visit the website: www.empc2003.de

Business Trade/Industry News:

• MSE, Germany

MICRO SYSTEMS ENGINEERING GmbH, a German manufacturer of High-Rel LTCC circuits and advanced hybrids, was visited by Dr. Bhatnagar from the Hybrid Microcircuit Group of the Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI) Pilani/India. Dr. Bhatnagar, an active member of IMAPS INDIA, who is currently working on a joint research project at the Technical University of Ilmenau, was informed about the latest developments in multilayer ceramic technology in Berg. The photo shows Dr. Bhatnagar and his wife together with Prof. Thust (TU Ilmenau, left), Dr. Heil (right) and Dr. Mueller (back) from MSE.

www.mse-microelectronics.de

Poland:

Meetings Programme:

• European Microelectronics Interconnection and Packaging Symposium, IMAPS-Europe CRACOW 2002 June 16 — 18th, 2002

Venue: HOTEL SOFITEL, CRACOW, POLAND

The IMAPSEurope Cracow 2002 is one of the most outstanding European conferences, providing an international forum for the presentation and discussion of recent developments and future trends in the field of microelectronic materials, packaging and interconnection.

The Symposium will include a TABLE TOP EXHIBITION.

At the beginning of 1990s, Poland underwent major economic change. Many inefficient state enterprises and factories went bankrupt. The electronic industry suffered, too. However, the situation soon improved thanks to foreign investment and the rapid growth of the small and medium enterprise sector. PCB, SMT, thick and thin film hybrids, sensors for non-electric values, electronic for medicine and electronic devices controlling manufacturing processes, have been most successful. Today, the Polish electronic industry is concentrated in the Cracow region.

Cracow, the most beautiful Polish city with one of the oldest universities in Europe, lies on the banks of the Vistula river in the southern region of Poland. Its focal point is the Market Square situated at the heart of the Old Town - the city’s historic centre. This compact area is a treasure-trove of architectural monuments, given recognition in 1978 when it was included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. To the south of the Market Square, perched on a hill, is the magnificent Wawel Castle, the seat of Poland’s kings until the late 16th century. Cracow is a major tourist destination, each year playing host to numerous cultural events and festivals. In 2000 it was chosen as one of the European Capitals of Culture for the millennium year.

There are direct flights to Cracow from many European cities, as well as from New York and Chicago. Alternatively, one can fly to Warsaw and then continue to Cracow on LOT Polish Airlines’ domestic service (six per day, 40 minute flight time) or by train (2 hours 30 minutes).

Please visit the web site for more info: www.itme.edu.pl/imaps.cracow2002 /index.html

Russia:

News from the Chapter:

• COMMITTEE REPORT

2001 thus far was successful for Russian economy. Not only this was due to the high oil prices as they often claim, but mainly due to the new team in government, who thank God at last can speak the same economics language as the rest of the world does. Good trends currently prevail, giving some reasonable optimism to investors. Currency rate remains stable, GDP grows by 5-7% two years in a row and inflation in June, 2001, was only 0,7%. Such situation pushes multinationals like Siemens, Alcatel, and Ericsson to expand bit by bit their facilities in Russia and look for new partners among local companies. Electronic-related business grows annually by 30-40% driven by automotive and telecom industries. An Alcatel spot in St. Petersburg could be an example — a typical Western factory, several hundred employees, 35% local market share and good prospects. There are many more examples of successful work in Russia: Siemens’ joint ventures, two Bosch facilities etc. 2001 brought another positive trend — millions of dollars from off-shores are invested in capital equipment in Russia. Obviously, these are Russian capitals coming back. Accompanied by significant taxes and duties decrease, this makes Russia a promising production and research site of Europe.

However, joining the world’s community might be a far more complicated process than it seems. During the trial workshop in Zelenograd on the 4-5th June the great gap between Russian and foreign specialists was clearly visible. Drawbacks are obvious and should be mentioned here: total incompetence in marketing, promotion and project management issues accompanied with poor language capability and self-presentation skills. Notwithstanding strong scientific point of majority of presentations held by Russian specialists, few mentioned future applications of their breath-taking experiments! It sounds bizarre but is quite common for former-Soviets. It can be the only way out: education, brought by international bodies like IMAPS. Linking Russia with the West, combining strong points of both is our main objective. We plan to achieve it not only by holding seminars and exhibitions (where people mainly are passive due to language barrier), but mainly via educational and training activities, especially for young promising specialists. Respective universities are currently enjoying a boom of students interested in solid state physics and electronics after a decade of recession.

15 IMAPS-Russia members from 5 regions have already become affiliate members of IMAPS North America. Such a convenient form of membership will help to assess the level of modern electronics, to show how niches for Russian technologies and products can be found and how ideas and research findings can be turned to real products by well-organized project teams. Russia could use the recession in the world’s electronics to introduce its own specialists and newly appeared private firms as contract R&D partners. A price for such cooperation could be the above-mentioned know-how in marketing, internships and training for Russian specialists.

What will drive Russian electronics further? National programs for aviation development and for energy-saving technologies development could obviously be a platform for some joint technical and educational projects.

Using proper moment, IMAPS-Russia is planning to apply for organizing several international IMAPS events, which could be helpful in such cooperation.

Dr. Alexei B. Danilin
Deputy Director, Research Assistance Department of MIEE,
Head of the Russian NEXUSPAN NCP.

Sergej Valev
Mozaik Technology Ventures Ltd.
Regional Manager Russia / Belarus

• IMAPS-Russia exhibiting

The Russian chapter of IMAPS (IMAPS Ru), SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) and Russian National Contact Point of NEXUS (Network for Excellence in Micro Systems) has started a joint interaction in Russia. During “IMAPS Russia workshop” (June 2-4, Zelenograd, Moscow Institute of Electronics Technology) members of SEMI and NEXUS were able to promote their organizations and development. Now SEMI has offered to IMAPS Ru a complimentary booth at Annual SEMI Expo CIS which was held Sep 25-26 in Moscow (new Manege) exhibition hall.

Vlad Krivoshapko (IMAPS Ru).†

• IMAPS-Russia trial workshop in Zelenograd

From the workshop which took place in June and has been described in the September-October issue the picture below shows the new IMAPS-NA president Chuck Bauer and the Russian chapter coordinator Mr. Vladimir Krivoshapko.

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