---

Advancing Microelectronics • Volume 28, No. 5 • September/October 2001

---

European Activities & Calendar of Events:

---

UK:

Meetings Programme:

• Microtech 2002

Microtech 2002 will take place at the Crown Plaza at Manchester and the dates are confirmed as January 29-30, 2002.

News from the Chapter:

• COMMITTEE REPORT

A committee meeting was held on 25th May. Progress was reported on the arrangements for forthcoming events. In October or November this year, the Passive Components meeting would take place and potential speakers should contact the secretariat immediately. After some discussion the venue for Microtech 2002 was chosen and will be the Crown Plaza at Manchester and the dates are confirmed as the 29th and 30th January. It is hoped that taking this important event out of the London area and nearly in the centre of the country may encourage a better attendance. There are also excellent transport connections. Papers on the first day will cover “Materials for Electronics” and on the second day “Advances in Microtechnologies.”

Continuing with the programme of out-of-London venues, a meeting on Microelectronics and Packaging is planned for the spring of 2002. Also next year plans are being made for a meeting on Advanced Manufacturing, jointly with SMART on the 12th of September and Automotive Technology and Applications in the autumn. Publicity items discussed included the Newsletter to be started shortly and also an IMAPS-UK brochure which would be used to attract new members. The new web site was discussed and in particular a unique Shop Window.

Business Trade/Industry News:

• WEATHERING THE STORM

The general feeling in the UK industry at the present time particularly amongst the smaller firms is to batten down the hatches and wait for the waters to calm down. Whilst the large telecomms companies such as Nortel and more recently Marconi continue to report the need for job losses, the companies who supply them, who have over the past two years been pressurized into expanding their facilities to meet unprecedented demands, try at least to keep those employees with the skills needed for the future. What seems incredible is that these large organizations with all their market management teams and statistics seem unable to forecast a reliable future and yet expect their suppliers to switch on and off their production with no warning. The general opinion of trade organizations, market surveyors and investors is that the UK will have a slow recovery and that the quantities of 2000 may never be repeated.

The theory is that in times of low market requirements that R & D, engineering development and training should take place so that when the recovery comes everyone is better placed to provide better products. A good time perhaps to establish lead free soldering and here the test methodology for assessing solder joint reliability report issued by the National Physical Laboratory (CMMT-A-273) may be of interest. It makes considerable use of microsectioning, also shear strength and electrical continuity. Perhaps it is a good time for industry and universities to develop partnerships and the promise by Agilent to provide the University College London centre of technical expertise with an academic researcher for five years is an example others should follow.

The current situation makes bidding for the new army radio contract, Bowman, even more active. With a contract estimated to be worth £1.7 bn, the government is also taking note of estimated job creation by those bidding. Then there is the subject of engineer shortage and the apparent lack of interest in young people entering our industry. UK IMAPS chairman Nihal Sinnadurai hit the headlines in the electronics press with “Engineering students need a firework up their backsides” when he was interviewed about the inability of the UK committee to award the student prize this year due to there being no entries. Then one reads another headline which reads “Railtrack evaluates schoolboy’s device” where a sixteen year old boy who has developed a microprocessor-based sensor to monitor stress put on axles on trains with a view to recognising damage to the track. Our industry has a duty to get a message to the young people in our schools to say that we shall depend more for our future on technology than on many of the other more glitzy subjects on offer in schools today.

BCW.

• EEENET — Inaugural Meeting.

The inaugural meeting of networking group for Electronics in Extreme Environments took place in Birmingham on 26th June. Around 35 people from industry and universities came together to hear about the aims of the network and a report of the 2001 HITEN conference together with 4 papers — SCEPTRE/ power applications/ markets — Towards High Temperature Packaging — Low Temperature Power Electronics — Aerospace Applications.

It was an interesting day with a number of reports on achievements that were unknown to many. Super conductors and Superconducting Magnet Energy Storage (SMES) were overviewed, the progress on silicon carbide for power semiconductors was related, the requirements for smart switching devices within gas turbines could bring considerable fuel savings, methods for building higher temperature packages were proposed and some of the research and development in these areas was openly discussed.

A discussion took place as to the future direction the group should take and it was generally agreed that it had been a useful day and other similar events should be arranged. It was hoped to widen the net by encouraging other people working in this area and also potential users to sign up as members. Details of the group are available from garyshorthouse@setnet.org

BCW

France:

News from the Chapter:

Please see the special Strasbourg report printed separately.

Business Trade/Industry News:

• Valtronic receives prize for best design

Mentor Graphics, a leader in Computer Assisted Design (CAD) tools, has awarded Valtronic a first prize at its 15th Annual PCB Technology Leadership Awards. The award, given for best printed circuit board design in the Industrial Controls category, was announced during the “PCB Design Conference West” international show March 20, 2001, in Santa Clara, California.

A panel of industry expert judges, consisting of editors, engineers, consultants, and executives from the press and a wide range of technology firms, evaluated applicants’ submissions for innovation, complexity and aesthetics. Valtronic was chosen, along with other well-known companies such as NCR (Computer category), Lexmark (Consumer Electronics category) and Caterpillar Electronics (Transportation category). Valtronic’s circuit, designed for a high-definition 2D bar code reader, measures 36 mm x 18 mm (1.4 inches x 0.7 inches), with a total of 105 components on 2 sides of the PCB. The heart of the system is an integrated circuit containing 311 connections, and Chip-On-Board assembly with a wire spacing of only 70 microns. The eight layer board uses 887 microvias, 504 of which are blind. Three-hundred eighty-three buried vias provide continuity between layers. Further miniaturization was achieved by reducing the space between PCB tracks to 0.075 mm (from the typical 0.1 mm), and the track width to 0.1 mm (typically 0.15 mm). Special attention was given to the layout of the PCB tracks to provide the impedance control required by the application.

www.valtronic.ch

Benelux:

News from the Chapter:

• Autumn event and 25 years anniversary

This year, IMAPS Benelux will organize its autumn event on November 16th at Philips CFT in Eindhoven.

The theme of this one day seminar is “lead free soldering.”

On this day, IMAPS Benelux will also celebrate its 25th anniversary.

For more information : imaps.benelux@chello.be

Business Trade/Industry News:

• CS2 gets out of Creditor Protection

June 29th, 2001, it was informed that the “Commercial Court of Brussels” has taken the decision to grant definitive agreement on the restructuring and repayment plan CS2 has presented to its Creditors and to the Court, and to declare that CS2 is now out of the “Creditor Protection” status.

The Court has taken its decision based upon the following key elements:

- CS2 has decreased its fixed costs,

- CS2 has made a detailed restructuring plan, in which CS2 proposes to convert the debts into convertible bonds,

- The acceptance of this plan by the majority of the Shareholders during the Extraordinary General Meeting of June 15th, 2001,

- The acceptance of this plan by the majority of the Creditors and the Court on June 20th, 2001,

- CS2 has made a business plan for the future of the Company.

This means that, except for further Bridge Financing or loans, the company will be debt free. CS2 has approximately 60 million EURO of assets.

Even if the semiconductor market is today showing signs of weakness, there is confidence in CS2”s ability to successfully regain a significant market share in the following months.

The following elements are in particular very promising:

- the ramp up in production of PSGA (Polymer Stud Grid Array) packages jointly developed with Siemens;

- the qualification and production start of high speed flip chip products for Internet back bone transmissions.

On top of that, CS2 is pursuing its market diversification effort in order to be less dependent of the mobile market.

In the meantime, CS2 is still looking for an industrial and/or financial partner in order to further support its planned growth.

Given the confidence we received from our customers, who are almost all blue chip companies, and the restructuring plan of the company, we believe that we have a place in the future growing market of semiconductors, CS2 expresses.

Nordic:

News from the Chapter:

Info from the chapter can be found on the web: www.imapsnordic.org

Business Trade/Industry News:

• Selmic, Finland

Selmic Micromodules has started up a LTCC manufacturing line with technical transfer from VTT Electronics. Other LTCC related services include design, laser tuning, SMD processes and mounting of BGA balls.

• ACREO, Sweden

A visit to ACREO has taken place.

ACREO is a Swedish company offering industrial research and development within microelectronics, optics and electro optics. The business idea of ACREO is to refine and transfer research results into industrialisable product and process and to stimulate and participate in the cooperation between industry and university.

ACREO is a result of the merging of IOF (Institute of Optical Research) and IMC (Industrial Microelectronics Center) in 1999. ACREO is now the largest electronics institute in Sweden with 156 employees, 110 of these with a university degree. The turnover was in 2000 about 18 M EUR, 50% of this coming from the industry.

ACREO has laboratories several places in Sweden, all very close to local universities. In total ACREO has 1.800 sqm cleanrooms and 1.800 sqm for test and measurement.

The owners are the Swedish Ministry of Industry and the private industry.

One area of competence is SoCWARE, the combination of software and hardware for system level integration for faster development of system-in-silicon and system-in-package chip design for wireless and wideband applications.

Other areas are Electronic Packaging, Microsystems (MEMS), Imaging, Photonics, Silicon Carbide and Surface Characterisation.

High focus is on System integration with technologies for system on a chip and System in package like MCMs, integrated passives, integration of electronics and optics and large area processing. Also organic electronics for electronics on paper and polymer electronics for memories (roll to roll), sensors and display has high attention.

The electronics on paper research is done within the PAELLA project (Paper Electronics Low Cost Applications). Here the aim is to realise electronic functions on the surface of the paper to enable e.g., communication with packages and liquid containers.

Concerning MCM technologies, ACREO has concentrated on the thin film processing with sputtering of metals on various substrate materials, and electroplating for thicker films.

The sketch below shows the module concept.

Several MCM-D modules have been realised on silicon or laminates. Laminates offer the potential of lower costs.

To reduce the cost of the individual modules, it is important to work on not only cheaper substrate materials but also to work with large panel formats, like it has been implemented in the PCB industry for years.

Like GeorgiaTech and other leading research groups in the world, ACREO is working with a LAP (Large Area Processing) programme. Fig.1 shows the cost and technology development of MCM-D substrates as seen by ACREO.

ACREO has concentrated on 24” x 24” panels and has a complete process line for this format including photolithography, stepper, sputtering, CVD, spinner, oven and RIE.

Fig. 2 shows a 24” x 24” panel in front of the ANVIK stepper.

In Norrkoping where ACREO has the thin film processing they have 620 sqm clean room, class 1.000 and 10.000 and besides the 24” x 24” process line, they have a full process line for 4”, 5” and 6” wafers, processes for flip chip bumping and equipment for electro forming.

ACREO’s business concept of industralising and commercialising microelectronics projects has resulted in many spin-offs. So far more than 10 companies have been spun off employing in total more than 300 persons.

One of the recent successes has been mentioned before in Advancing Microelectronics. It is Strand Interconnect. Strand has licensed the MCM-D technology and has today volume production of MCM substrates for several customers. Strand uses Al conductors and BCB dielectric on silicon wafers or aluminium substrates. www.strandinter.com

Another spin off is Bluetronics, offering Bluetooth and WLAN (Wireless LAN) solutions based upon embedded RF technology on low cost PCB organic substrates like FR4. One Bluetooth module has integrated antenna and RF functions. 16mm x 18mm x 2.5mm. www.bluetronics.com.

The many spin-offs and the practical implementations and applications confirm that the declared focus to industrialise product and process development is well met.

Please check ACREO further on www.acreo.se

The visit took place in June 01.

SN

• Ericsson Microelectronics, Sweden

DuPont Press release:

The newest Bluetooth™ designs are part of the miniaturised applications requiring high density interconnect boards and assembly technology. The necessity of producing modules to be incorporated into battery operated devices at low cost makes size the critical factor. At assembly level, flip chip is offering the best solution to reduce overall board dimensions, enabling the largest number of I/Os to be connected within the smallest area.

An optimal choice for high density interconnect boards used for Bluetooth applications are Green Tape™ LTCC materials from DuPont featuring, small size and robust high frequency and mechanical properties. DuPont”s GreenTape™ materials have been selected by major players offering the newest Bluetooth products, including Ericsson Microelectronics AB.

Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) substrates feature HDI circuitry patterns and can be used for applications subject to strong thermal and mechanical stress in their working environment. Other advantages are the availability and compatibility of LTCC, the maturity of the technology, and the future prospects for high-density integration.

By using DuPont Green Tape™ 951, Ericsson Microelectronics AB was able to integrate microwave structures for the antenna filter and transmit/receive baluns into the Bluetooth transceiver substrate, providing good performance and a well-balanced utilisation of the top and inner layers of the substrate. The new radio modules also have a small form factor as a result of the flip chip assembly of the IC to the LTCC substrate, and BGA assembly to the application PCB.

No company has been working longer or harder with Bluetooth wireless technology than Ericsson. Research began back in 1994, and Ericsson helped found the Bluetooth SIG, and was the first company to put Bluetooth consumer products into mass production.

Germany:

Meetings Programme:

• Polytronic 2001, Potsdam, October 21-24

This new joint conference is incorporating Polymeric Materials for Microelectronics and Photonics Application (POLY), Adhesives in Electronics and Polymeric Electronics Packaging (PEP). The main objective is to provide a forum for experts to present their findings and innovations, and to exchange ideas on topics regarding different aspects of adhesives and polymers in microelectronic and photonics. The conference will take place at the Dorint Hotel, located in the historic center of Potsdam near Berlin, Germany.

For full programme or more information please use fax number + 49 (0) 30 46403 161; write an e-mail to polyorg@izm.fhg.de or visit the home page

http://www.izm.fhg.de/polytronic_2001/.

Poland:

Meetings Programme:

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

Venue: HOTEL SOFITEL, CRACOW, POLAND

The IMAPS-Europe 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 topics covered by the technical programme will include all important aspects of:

· Assembly Technologies (Conductive Adhesives, Pb-Free Solders, Surface Mount, Others),

· Electrical, Thermal and Mechanical Design, Modelling and Simulation,

· Environmentally-friendly Electronics,

· Microelectronic Materials, Packag- ing and Interconnection — Diag-nostics, Quality and Reliability,

· Microelectronics Applications in Automotive, Space and Military Electronics, Data Processing, Wire-less Telecommunication, Medicine and Biotechnology,

· New Materials (Ceramic, Polymeric, Composites) and Film Technolo-gies,

· Packaging and Interconnection (High Density, Low Cost, Wafer Scale, Encapsulants, MEMS, Opto-electronics),

· Passive Components, Passive Inte-grated Components and Functional MCM Circuits, Sensors and Actu-ators, Micro Electro Mechanical Systems).

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).

CALL FOR PAPERS

The organisers invite researchers and engineers from universities, independent laboratories and industry for their contributions. Authors are invited to submit abstracts reflecting original work not previously published and not presented elsewhere. Abstracts should address innovative concepts or significant technical and scientific advances in microelectronic components, packaging and interconnection. The submission deadline is 23 November 2001. All submitted abstracts will be assessed by the Technical Programme Committee. Authors of accepted papers will be notified by 21 December 2001.

Please submit abstracts electronically according to the following guidelines:

· Abstracts should be submitted in English in one of the following formats: Microsoft Word 2000 or 97, as a text attachment or in the body of the mail message,

· Abstracts should not exceed one page in length. Use single line spacing throughout, not exceeding 300 words, including title, name(s) of author(s) and affiliation(s) (with e-mail, phone and fax number). Use point size 12 Times font,

· Abstracts should describe the novelty, purpose, method and outcome of the work,

· Make the title as concise as possible,

· Indicate the presenting author(s) with (*).

Abstracts should be sent to: tpc2002@pwr.wroc.pl

Please, fax a copy of your abstract to ++ 48 71 355 48 22

On-line application form is available on Website: http://www.itme.edu.pl/imaps.cracow2002/index.html

The committees are in place:

The Steering Committee

Selim ACHMATOWICZ, Symposium Chairman, Institute of Electronic Materials Technology, WARSAW

Micha CIEZ, Symposium Co-chairman, OBR Mikroelektroniki Hybrydowej i Rezystorow, KRAKOW

Magorzata JAKUBOWSKA, Symposium Secretary, Institute of Electronic Materials Technology, WARSAW

Barbara DZIURDZIA, Treasurer, Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza, KRAKOW

Leszek GOLONKA, Technical Programme, Wroclaw University of Technology, Institute of Microsystem Technology, WROCLAW

Ryszard KISIEL, Member, Politechnika Warszawska Instytut Mikroelektroniki i Optoelektroniki, WARSZAWA

Wiesaw ZARASKA, Member, OBR Mikroelektroniki Hybrydowej i Rezystorow, KRAKOW

The Technical Programme Committee:

Leszek GOLONKA, Chairman, Wroclaw University of Technology Institute of Microsystem Technology, WROCLAW

Andrzej DZIEDZIC, Secretary, Wroclaw University of Technology Institute of Microsystem Technology, WROCLAW

Søren NØRLYNG, North, MICRONSULT, DENMARK

Jens M¸ller, Central, Micro Systems Engineering GmbH, GERMANY

Jean-Claude RAMES, South, MATRA BAE Dynamics, FRANCE

Ivan SZENDIUCH, East, Department of Microelectronics Technical University of Brno, CZECH REPUBLIC

David LOWRIE, West, UK

Slovenia:

• 37th International Conference on Microelectronics, Devices and Materials and the Workshop on Optoelectronic Devices and Applications

MIDEM - Society for Microelectronics, Electronic Components and Materials and IMAPS-Slovenia has organised this conference to take place October 10. - 12. Bohinj, SLOVENIA.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The 37th International Conference on Microelectronics, Devices and Materials, MIDEM 2001, continues the tradition of annual international conferences organized by the MIDEM Society. These conferences have always attracted a large number of Slovene and foreign experts working in these fields.

The topics covered by the conference are quite diverse, and presenting about 60 papers in five sessions over three days seems rather demanding. However, once a year scientists and engineers have the opportunity to present their work to the international public and to meet and discuss trends, news and problems related to their field of work. We believe that this at least balances the effort required by the attendees and the organizer.

The conference is well known in the electronics community. Hundreds of distinguished scientists from all over the world have taken part in previous MIDEM conferences. The goal of establishing contacts, collaboration and friendship among scientists and their companies remains the main aim for the organizer.

Therefore, you are kindly invited to take part in the forthcoming :

37th International Conference on Microelectronics, Devices and Materials - MIDEM 2001 Conference

The conference will be held in Hotel Zlatorog, Bohinj, Slovenia, October 10 — 12, 2001

WORKSHOP on OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICES AND APPLICATIONS

Beginning in 1998, to the programme of the MIDEM Conferences specialist workshops were added. During the workshop, four to six invited speakers present papers on the chosen topics from different aspects, thus offering the audience valuable information. Time for thorough discussions is provided between invited presentations, and Conference attendees are encouraged to present their research results in the Conference session dealing with the same topic. For Conference participants, attendance at the workshop is covered by the Conference registration fee. For the year 2001, we are pleased to announce a

Conference Web page:

http://paris.fe.uni-lj.si/midem/conf2001/

Programme and Organizing Committee, MIDEM 2001 Conference

MIDEM at MIKROIKS
Mrs Meta Limpel
Stegne 11
1521 Ljubljana, SLOVENIA
tel.+386-61-1512 221,
fax.+386-61-1512 217
email : Iztok.Sorli@guest.arnes.si

MIDEM 2001 Conference official Email
midem@paris.fe.uni-lj.si

Contact person for the Workshop on OPTOELECTRONIV DEVICES AND APPLICATIONS

Prof.Dr.Marko Topiz
Workshop Chairperson
Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Ljubljana
Tržaška 25
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
tel.+386 (0) 1 4768 470, fax +386-(0) 1 4264 630
Email : marko.topic@fe.uni-lj.si

For more information on Slovenia, Bohinj and how to reach the conference site, please see the following WWW sites:

for Slovenia —
http://www.matkurja.com

for Bohinj —
http://www.bohinj.si

| Table of Contents | Previous Page | Next Page |