Nepcon West hot topic-when CSPs will arrive

Electronic News, March 3, 1997 by Bernard Levine

Anaheim, Calif.--Chip-scale packages (CSPs) are going to happen; the real question today is no longer if, but when. That was the consensus of CSP developers, semiconductor assembly equipment makers, material vendors, packaging foundry leaders, contract assemblers and other suppliers and users with a vital stake in the future of CSPs who gathered here last week for Nepcon West.

Many here noted that the first high-volume end-products containing chip-scale packages already appeared late last year in Japan, including a Sony camcorder containing 20 different CSPs. Reports that CSPs are being closely scrutinized by virtually every maker of cellular phones, and producers of many other space-constrained products, were widely discussed throughout the heavily attended Nepcon exhibit areas and conference sessions. With leading semiconductor makers such as Intel, Texas Instruments, Motorola, Advanced Micro Devices, Hitachi and others said to be earmarking the packaging technology for such products as flash memory and discrete semis, some Nepcon attendees believe CSPs will be a high-volume business before the year is out.

However, others caution it may take a bit longer, with key pieces of the chip-scale assembly and materials infrastructure puzzle still not completely in place, and a band of competing CSP designs still vying for attention. "The challenge right now is to get costs down for each element of the infrastructure for the supply of the package, the infrastructure for test and assembly," said Tom DiStefano, marketing VP at Tessera. "The infrastructure is growing from the initial sampling to ramping up volume." The licensing of Tessera's Micro Ball Grid Array CSP design by Intel, TI and others has reportedly given all CSP technologies a huge boost in recent months. Tessera expects to soon license additional IC makers, as well as more tape suppliers and package assemblers for its process, Dr. DiStefano indicated in an interview at Tessera's Nepcon booth.

Requests For Samples

At the booth of Amkor Electronics, another Tessera licensee, Amkor director of corporate marketing Gil Olachea said CSP technology got hot since "Intel publicly announced its support of Tessera's Micro Ball Grid Array." He added: "Amkor is evaluating a lot of chip-scale packages. There is a lot of hype, a lot of sizzle and definitely higher levels of interest, reminiscent of four years ago with plastic ball grid arrays. The CSP questions are availability of tape carriers, test sockets and manufacturing information that relates to placement and process. It is happening now; there are a lot of requests for samples. It is a question of when; it is definitely reaching critical mass. I've seen a lot of promise here at the show, with offerings from material and equipment vendors. The market is prepared and ready. It is going to happen--just a question of when."

The word throughout Nepcon was that a lot of people are gearing up for CSPs, or plan to shortly. "We've received orders from several large semiconductor companies for advanced packaging machines for chip-scale and flip chip, since the beginning of January," said David Smith, president of Quad Systems.

Assembly equipment to support CSPs and other key technologies were shown throughout Nepcon by Panasonic, Philips, Siemens, Universal Instruments, Fuji, Quad, ESEC's Zevatech unit and many others. (See The Package, page 42.) So were a host of tape, solder and other materials from numerous vendors. Contract assemblers, foundry houses, equipment makers and others also see a big role as CSP and other advanced packaging technologies emerge. Leroy Jarvis, VP of assembly technology and integration at contractor Avex Electronics, said his firm has "two projects in CSPs, 10-month development projects starting in the next few weeks. One is with an OEM systems customer, and one is from the semiconductor world. They are taking preliminary packaging concepts, looking at reliability. They want independent assessments. CSPs have heated up to an immense level in the last few months. I expect production-level releases in Q497 and Q198."

Martin Goetz, director of technology development at ASAT, said, "We are still evaluating our position on chip-scale packaging, and have not licensed anything yet. We will probably be licensed with one or more within six months. We are looking at Tessera and others." He added, "The infrastructure still needs to be in place that includes handling, inspection, testing and delivery. There are reliability and qualification issues. As a general commodity, I don't see volume this year. There may be specific customer applications which may run volume."

To Become Common

Leo van de Vall, product manager for SMD assembly systems at Philips Industrial Automation, said "CSPs will become common, starting now. You can do CSPs with current technology, just like BGAs."

Many market researchers agree on the emergence of CSPs. Jan Vardaman of Tech Search International noted "CSPs are not a myth anymore. As soon as Intel made the announcement, it was like a stampede. We are seeing the start of things this year. There is more in Japan than the U.S., in quantity of product, but there will be more here next year." CSP developers are confident. At a Nepcon chip-scale symposium, Phil Marcoux, president of ChipScale Inc., told doubters to look at the overflow crowds there and at other CSP functions "if you are not sure it is happening." He said products are slated in coming months, such as Motorola discrete semiconductors, made under license to his firm.