The 75th anniversary celebration of ECTC in Dallas showcases a remarkable evolution in advanced packaging technologies, revealing how semiconductor priorities have dramatically shifted. Rather than the relentless miniaturization of the smartphone era, today’s AI-driven applications demand larger packages with more functionality and sophisticated thermal management solutions.

Glass core substrates emerged as the star technology of the conference, with standing-room-only sessions demonstrating the industry’s intense interest in this promising material platform. The excitement is justified – glass offers superior dimensional stability and enables higher-density interconnects than traditional organic substrates. Meanwhile, co-packaged optics generated similar enthusiasm as engineers tackle the monumental challenge of powering AI server racks that consume between 0.5-1 megawatt each, making energy efficiency a critical concern.

The conversation with Onto Innovation’s Monita Pau begins at 1:10.

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On September 30, 2024, Onto Innovation held the grand opening of its Packaging Applications Center of Excellence – or as it’s being called, PACE. Françoise von Trapp attended the grand opening to learn why the company has partnered with like-minded suppliers of the panel-level packaging ecosystem to accelerate the development of PLP technologies for both 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.

This episode starts off with a conversation with Onto Innovation CEO, Mike Plisinski, who explains how PACE came to be, its business model, and why AI is driving growth in panel-level packaging.

The story continues with a tour of PACE conducted by Keith Best, Director of PACE.  Best gives a step-by-step description of the processes as panels move from the photoresist coater, to the lithography stepper, to the developer, and then to the inspection system. He also talks about the role advanced lithography tools play in developing down-stream panel level processes.

Lastly, you’ll hear from PACE collaboration partners:

In this episode, Françoise von Trapp talks with Onto Innovation’s Monita Pau and Jiangtao Hu about metrology for advanced packaging – why do we need it? What are the challenges, and how do we solve them?

In semiconductor manufacturing front-end processes, metrology has always been a critical step to ensure consistency of very fine features. It’s only recently become important to back-end advanced packaging processes – especially for heterogeneous integration. As chips are designed with smaller features, advanced packaging processes are becoming more front-end like.

You’ll learn about how metrology designed for front-end manufacturing is being reimagined for wafer-level and assembly applications such as:

  • Hybrid bonding
  • 3D stacking with micro bumps
  • RDL applications for interposers
  • TSV applications

The speakers discuss the challenges, gaps, and solutions for each. You’ll also learn what makes Onto Innovation uniquely qualified to support this.