Global semiconductor giants are concentrating their R&D efforts on advanced packaging technologies to drive performance enhancements. According to a report from Commercial Times, as packaging technology progresses from 2.5D to 3D, chip stacking technologies have become a showcase for the competitive prowess of major companies.

“Hybrid Bonding” is seen as the key technology for future chip connections. In addition to international companies like Applied Materials and Besi actively positioning themselves, Taiwanese companies led by TSMC, including Gallant Micro, MPI Corporation, E&R Engineering Corporation, C SUN, Saultech, and Grand Process Technology, are also developing and seizing opportunities in Hybrid Bonding.

The report also cited industry sources, pointing out that Grand Process Technology has been supplying TSMC since the inception of InFO (Integrated Fan-Out Packaging). It is revealed that Grand Process Technology is also actively participating in future SoIC (System on Integrated Chips) advanced packaging, focusing on wafer cleaning and photoresist removal in etching processes.

It is indicated by the report that Grand Process Technology’s capacity will be operating at full speed until the first quarter of next year, with lead times extended to nine months. Last year’s orders are currently being installed gradually, with most concentrated on advanced packaging.

Semiconductor equipment manufacturer C SUN and its investment company Gallant Micro are currently investing in Hybrid Bonding-related equipment. C SUN primarily focuses on developing the best solutions for permanent bonding to enhance yield rates. Meanwhile, Gallant Micro leverages its relative advantage in chip sorting machines within its product line.

MPI Corporation, a testing interface vendor, has also entered the initial stages of inspection and analysis for Hybrid Bonding processes. Development of related products is nearing completion.

E&R Engineering Corporation also emphasizes that its top-tier plasma cleaning equipment is currently aimed at achieving high cleanliness of bonding surfaces to enhance adhesion.

Saultech Technology holds a positive outlook on the future market trends of Hybrid Bonding as well. The company has introduced equipment that corresponds to both Hybrid Bonding and Fan-Out technologies. Saultech has independently developed key technologies including bonding and die cleaning processes.

Read more

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(Photo credit: Applied Materials)

Undaunted by deadlocked US-Sino relations, the great pandemic of 2020, and the US Department of Commerce’s ban on Huawei’s use of software and equipment produced by US manufacturers in the same year, China’s packaging and testing industry has, instead, used these factors as stimulus get back on track. Faced with these three major challenges, the Chinese government has responded with policies such as domestically producing both equipment and semiconductors, allowing China’s packaging and testing industry to buck the trends set in 2020. According to TrendForce statistics, industry revenue in 2020 reached US$7.02 billion and approximately US$9.53 billion in 2021.

A brief summary of China’s packaging and testing industry in recent years is as follows: the US-Sino trade war has been raging since 2018 and, due to tariff issues and the gradual rise in personnel salaries, terminal manufacturers whom had already established plants or subsidiaries in China were forced to gradually relocate relevant factories to SE Asia and India in order to avoid growing overhead costs, moreover impacting the revenue performance of China’s packaging and testing industry. As of June 2019, the tariff issue remained unresolved due to dubious US.-Sino relations but this issue could no longer impede the revenue recovery momentum of China’s packaging and testing industry.

Packaging and testing and localized equipment skirts bans and a moderate threshold for technology research and development attracts overseas manufacturers

After the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed export control bans on Huawei, HiSilicon, and SMIC, the market mostly predicted that China’s packaging and testing industry would be hit next but this did not happen. According to TrendForce, the primary reason for this is that the nature of current back-end packaging and testing technology is relatively crude compared to front-end wafer manufacturing and, considering Chinese government’s recent policy of localizing equipment and the degree of substitutability of non-US equipment manufacturers, even if the U.S. Department of Commerce proposes further bans against the industry, its effects will be limited.

In response to the US-Sino trade conflict, the Chinese government has proposed relevant measures such as semiconductor autonomy which has driven a gradual mainstreaming of domestic equipment production plans. In addition, national funds have been continuously injected into semiconductor equipment manufacturers, even though the level of technological development at this stage remains inferior to major manufacturers in Europe, the United States, and Japan. However, for those with modest requirements for back-end process conditions, testing, and testing equipment, China’s domestic packaging and testing equipment does have a certain proportion and scale.

For example, relevant companies such as Hangzhou Changchuan and Shanghai Raintree have invested in the automatic optical inspection instruments (AOI) and testing equipment that are required in the latter stage of packaging and testing. On the other hand, due to the relatively low threshold for research and development of back-end packaging and testing equipment, many international companies such as Japan’s Advantest and Singapore’s Besi have also set up shops in China. Chinese packaging and testing and their equipment manufacturers are essentially unaffected by relevant export bans, so the industry can still anticipate technological and revenue performance in the next few years.

（Image credit: Pixabay）