With the popularization of mobile devices such as smart phones and e-readers, 3D ICs have become an inevitable trend of semiconductor packaging technology. In the commercialization of 3D IC technology, the first and foremost face is the severe challenges of manufacturing and cost. The difficulties in packaging and testing have to be overcome first to achieve the desired yield, because the trend towards thin and small, high-efficiency and low-cost electronic products, can effectively reduce the size of the IC package, taking into account the efficiency and cost advantages The 3D IC through silicon via (TSV) interconnect technology has been the focus of attention in the semiconductor industry, including semiconductor components, design, equipment, materials and processes must be complementary and indispensable. Now, all vendors in the industry chain are actively looking for more feasible solutions and partners, hoping to overcome technical bottlenecks and achieve mass production targets as soon as possible.

SEMICON Taiwan 2011 will be launched on the 7th, and 3D IC is still the focus of this exhibition. Promoter 2.5D and 3D IC technology is very positive. The general manager of the Sun Moonlight Group and Chief Research Officer Tang Heming said on the 6th that the semiconductor supply chain has been moving up in the past one year. Significant increase in related research and development resources of major manufacturers. The Wide-I/O Memory bus is also expected to be established before the end of the year in order to define the interface between memory and logic ICs. He expects 2013 to be the first year of mass production of 3D ICs.

For 2.5D and 3D ICs, Tang Heming said that the recent semiconductor supply chain has accelerated its investment in R&D. Many manufacturers have joined the R&D supply chain, including fabs, packaging and testing plants, etc. The cost of R&D in 3D ICs The increase in 2010 is a good thing for the development of the 3D industry chain. He predicted that 3D ICs should be expected to see mass production in 2013 and should be regarded as the first year of mass production of 3D ICs.

Tang Heming frankly stated that there are still many difficulties and challenges for 3D ICs that remain to be solved. For example, the cooperation among IC design, foundry, packaging and testing, systems, etc., needs to be strengthened and integrated; for example, in the aspect of testing, how can manufacturers improve their quality? This is also the key to testing the yield of the Known Good Die test. The entire semiconductor supply chain must solve these problems together.

For the packaging and testing industry, there has been a major breakthrough in the cooperation between the manufacturers of the front and rear segments, namely, the development of the Wide-I/O Memory bus. Tang Heming said that in the 3D era, system-level packages (SiPs) are put to the fore, and various types of ICs, such as logic, are stacked on a carrier board. IC and memory, how these two kinds of heterogeneous IC communicate with each other, this must define the standard, and then promote the Wide-I/O Memory bus. This standard has been jointly developed by various semiconductor companies such as Intel, Qualcomm, Elpida, Samsung Electronics, and Riyueguang, and is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Once the standard is established, there will be some reliance on production, which will help accelerate the mass production of 3D packaging. It is worth noting that Sun Moonlight actively promoted the development of the standard and made Taiwan also play an important role in the formulation of major standards.

Tang Heming said that 3D ICs and system-on-chip (SoC) technologies complement each other, and the integration of system functions through 3D ICs will increase the density and efficiency of ICs, lower their power consumption, and comply with environmental protection requirements. The use of 3D ICs will be mainly for mobile phones and tablet PCs, while 2.5D ICs will have larger die sizes, so the application side will begin with notebooks and desktop computers. The company is actively integrating with the semiconductor industry supply chain and is expected to introduce 3D IC volume production in 2013. It will be used in high-end areas such as mobile phones, PCs, and medical doctors.