How Arizona is Growing its Advanced Packaging Capabilities An inside look at how ASU, local governments, and private sector companies are working together to make Arizona a hub for advanced packaging innovation. By Jillian McNichol
The year 2022 was monumental for the semiconductor industry. That year, the Biden-Harris administration committed to making the U.S. a world leader in semiconductor manufacturing by passing the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. In an effort to decrease the nation’s reliance on China for chips, and to meet the demands of advanced technologies, the CHIPS Act highlighted plans to invest $53 billion in onshoring semiconductor manufacturing, with $1.6 billion going toward advanced packaging. (Figure 1)
sector companies are collaborating to boost Arizona's semiconductor manufacturing dominance. Arizona’s Private Sector Growth In February 2024, Amkor announced the approval of its outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facility in Peoria, Arizona. Once the facility is completed, it will make history as the largest OSAT facility of its kind in the U.S. (Figure 2)
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Around the Globe Advanced Packaging
For those of you who recognize the double entendre in the title and question the focus of this year’s cover feature, let me assure you: It's not about thermal management
solutions for next-generation advanced packaging. It is about the rising importance of advanced packaging and the activities that it's stimulating around the globe. For decades, semiconductor packaging was nothing more than a necessary step to ensure the connection and protection of semiconductor chips on the circuit board and nothing more. Because it was a cost adder, the industry goal was to do it as cheaply as possible. Most semiconductor manufacturers in the U.S., Asia, and Europe shipped their packaging offshore. As Moore's Law slows, heterogeneous integration approaches using advanced packaging technologies are now critical to ensuring the power, performance, area, and cost requirements for today's leading-edge processors. This fact is changing the global importance of advanced packaging, which has become a value-add to system-level performance. Five years ago, when the COVID pandemic created a global chip shortage, governments worldwide recognized how critical semiconductors are to our everyday lives. Simultaneously, geopolitical tensions increased and artificial intelligence applications demanded advanced AI chipsets. This increased concern about the impact semiconductors have on national security. As a result, we saw increased investments from Europe, Asia, and the U.S. to build regional ecosystems for onshoring semiconductor manufacturing. Many say that 2024 will go down in history as the Year of Advanced Packaging. As regions around the world compete for semiconductor manufacturing market share, they are all investing in advanced packaging R&D. Centers of excellence are popping up everywhere. This issue of the 3D InCites Yearbook takes a deep dive into global advanced packaging activities in Europe, Asia, and North America, with a special focus on activities in Arizona. Read on!
Figure 2: Rendering of the future Amkor Technologies Facility in Peoria, AZ Amkor’s $2 billion investment will not only provide Arizona with a world-class packaging center, but it will also create 2,000 new jobs for Arizonans. In addition, Amkor is the only U.S. headquartered OSAT provider that offers both high-volume manufacturing and advanced packaging capabilities. Although the facility’s opening date has yet to be announced, its creation marks a leap forward in strengthening Arizona’s advanced packaging foothold. Alongside its new facility, Amkor also announced a memorandum of understanding with TSMC to work together on delivering high-volume advanced packaging and testing technologies to its customers. The proximity of Amkor's upcoming back-end facility and TSMC's front- end fab will help further improve product cycle times, boosting industry activity in the Valley. While I was interviewing companies for this article, I asked all of them why they chose to have a presence in Arizona. I received several answers, but access to government funding, proximity to local and California- based customers, and a robust talent pipeline came out on top. However, something I found particularly interesting was learning just how purposeful Arizona’s move into advanced packaging has been. "You have everybody from the governor down focused on growing a semiconductor ecosystem," said Eelco Bergman, Chief Business Officer at Sara's Micro Devices. Sara's Micro Devices opened its first Arizona manufacturing center in Chandler in January 2024. (Figure 3)
Figure 1: YES is just one advanced packaging company investing in Arizona. Vic Chaudhry, VP and head of stragic marketing hosted Jillian McNichol at the YES facility in Chandler, AZ. Due to current onshoring efforts for semiconductor manufacturing, it wouldn't make sense to build front-end capacity in the U.S. only to send the chips overseas to be packaged. With a major boost in funding pouring into the country's advanced packaging ecosystem, it's almost hard to believe that packaging was once regarded as little more than a cost burden. In a swift change of events, it's emerging as the industry’s best chance for continuing Moore’s Law. This famous industry observation states that transistors on an integrated circuit (IC) will double every two years. To keep up with power, performance, area, and cost requirements, the industry is turning to advanced packaging technologies like 2.5D and 3D stacking. By optimizing the package, chip manufacturers can continue to pack more compute power in less space. This is essential for advancing artificial intelligence (AI), high- performance computing (HPC), and more. As advanced packaging moves into the spotlight, Arizona is becoming a key player in this integral manufacturing process. As a result, local governments and private
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