Picking up the Pace of Panel-level Advanced Packaging at Onto Innovation How a Collaborative Partnership is Accelerating PLP Innovation By Françoise von Trapp
Expansion plans in Indiana and North Carolina are expected to bring high-paying jobs to the regions. Realizing that technician jobs in an advanced packaging foundry are specialized, Patti says they offer extensive training and above-average pay. “These investments provide long-term return because employees tend to stick around,” he says. What the Future Holds for Foundry 2.0 Patti predicts a paradigm shift for the semiconductor industry. He envisions a future where microelectronic devices are more customized and transistors are fewer but more powerful. He hopes that Foundry 2.0 is a concept that other companies adopt. Patti hasn’t patented the phrase. He’s just setting the example for other players in the industry. It’s time for all companies like NHanced, which excel in customization, to thrive. To hear Patti describe Foundry 2.0 in his own words, listen to the podcast. We also take an audio tour of NHanced’s North Carolina cleanrooms, guided by operations director Carl Petteway.
Growth plans are in motion. Patti's excited to partner with governments in Indiana and North Carolina to implement those plans, along with local researchers like the Applied Research Institute and academia including North Carolina State University, Ivy Tech, and Purdue University. Headquartered in Illinois, in 2023 NHanced invested in a volume production advanced packaging facility in Odon, Indiana. The ribbon cutting was in January, and the building and cleanrooms are complete and will soon house a new interposer fabrication line capable of 5,000 wafers per month, operational by early Q1 2025. This complements its existing line, which is ramping up to two and then three shifts. While he was originally eyeballing a second Indiana manufacturing site to further implement Foundry 2.0, he has now pivoted to focus on expanding the existing North Carolina location. "By 2026, we’ll add two more 5,000-wafer lines in North Carolina—one for 300mm and another for 200mm wafers. Altogether, we’re targeting 15,000 to 16,000 wafers per month by the end of 2026.” says Patti. The site currently produces 250 wafers per month (wpm) —but orders are exceeding capacity. So they are adding a second shift, expanding the cleanroom footprint, and installing automated 200mm and 300mm tool lines to accommodate volume production. This includes the aforementioned BESI CHAMEO. (Figure 4) “The increased throughput of the new Besi system translates to lower cost for our customers,” said Patti. “Even more exciting is the improved yield, which will allow us to handle much larger assemblies economically. I expect to see new products containing dozens of chiplets.”
Monita Pau, Danielle Baptiste, Keith Best, Mike Plisinski, and Jason Robinson cut the ribbon to officially open PACE. Panel-level advanced packaging technologies have been in development for more than a decade. They began as a way to reduce costs and improve yields for fan-out wafer-level applications. Smartphone applications— particularly fingerprint sensors—promised volumes that would make the investment successful.
organic and glass substrates. These include 3D InCites members: LPKF Laser & Electronics, Evatec, MKS-Atotech, and Lam Research; as well as Resonac, Corning, and others.
Why North Carolina? “North Carolina’s targeted, performance-based incentive programs help companies and communities grow and thrive in our state.” says Katy Parker, Director of Project Management at the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. “In situations where North Carolina is competing with other attractive business locations, our competitive incentive programs can come into play.” The Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) is a performance-based, discretionary incentive program that provides cash grants directly to new and expanding companies to help offset the cost of locating or expanding a facility in the state. The One North Carolina Fund (OneNC) is a discretionary cash-grant program that allows the governor to respond quickly to competitive job-creation projects. The North Carolina Department of Commerce administers OneNC on behalf of the Governor. Awards are based on the number of jobs created, level of investment, location of the project, economic impact of the project and the importance of the project to the state and region. More than 330 electronics manufacturers call North Carolina home, and the state’s universities graduate 500 electrical/electronics engineers and 420 computer engineers annually. Additionally. community colleges offer customized training for new and expanding manufactures. Because of these factors, 38 companies in electronics manufacturing have located to or expanded in NC since 2021, totaling over $17 billion (Toyota is $13 billion of this) in capital investment and over 10,300 new jobs, says Parker. As a place to live and work, North Carolina has one of the fastest growing populations in the country. Racial diversity is also on the rise. Parker says the housing market is strong with increasing supply. The average home costs around $330,000. The region also reportedly boasts a strong education system.
However, memories of the fiasco of 450mm wafer efforts lived in the minds of many. Why invest in an ecosystem that may not demand high enough volumes to ensure a return on investment? Still, there were those who believed in the promise of panel-level packaging. Development efforts have persevered, and PLP has moved through R&D and into pilot production. Still, through it all, many remained skeptical about there being high enough volumes to support it. The Era of AI, coupled with the emergence of glass substrates, is set to change all that. On September 30, 2024, I visited Onto Innovation's headquarters in Wilmington, MA to attend the grand opening of its Packaging Applications Center of Excellence (PACE). The company has partnered with like-minded suppliers of the PLP ecosystem to accelerate the development of PLP technologies for both
Figure 1: District Director Janice Phillips presented a senate citation from the office of Massachusetts Senator Barry Finegold to Mike Plisinski, chief executive officer of Onto Innovation. In the citation, the senator con- gratulated Onto Innovation for the grand opening of the Packaging Appli- cations Center of Excellence and gave his support for future success.
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