Aug 9 2007
MK Electron Company, LTD, a Korean-based company, specializing in the manufacturing and global distribution of core semiconductor materials (gold and copper bonding wire, solder balls, sputtering targets and evaporate materials) and Microbonds Inc., an inventor and licensor of insulation for bonding wires and related processes, today announced that MKE has entered into long term license and supply agreements with Microbonds, enabling the application of Microbonds X-Wire(TM) technology to MKE's market leading gold bonding wires.
MKE's X-Wire family of products will be targeted at addressing many of the significant interconnect challenges in today's complex semiconductor packaging applications associated with the manufacture of a wide range of electronic products, particularly leading wireless and handheld devices.
"As a leader in the global market for bonding wire, MKE recognizes the industry's need for an interconnect solution that extends the current low cost infrastructure of equipment and process knowledge beyond the capabilities of bare bonding wires. Increasing interconnect densities driven by smaller more powerful applications highlight the need to allow interconnects to touch and cross without electrical shorting," said S.Y. Choi, President and CEO of MKE.
"Our strategic alliance with Microbonds is a strong demonstration of our commitment to being a leader in offering our customers next-generation interconnect solutions to meet their requirements, and is a reflection of the progress and leadership of Microbonds in using X-Wire technology in advanced packaging," he added.
"Insulated bonding wire is one of the most important recent developments in wire bonding technology. With the strong growth in wire bonded stacked die packages and bonding over active areas, and other advances in interconnect technology, the industry has been waiting for many years for a proven insulated wire technology that can be used with the existing equipment infrastructure," said Jan Vardaman, of TechSearch International, Inc., the industry's leading semiconductor assembly and materials consultancy. "Continued increases in the price of gold make the ability to use smaller diameter insulated bonding wires an enabler in the goal of improved performance with continued cost reductions," Vardaman added.
"The establishment of this important relationship with MKE allows Microbonds to extend its global capabilities and continues the work we have undertaken to support X-Wire with proven supply chain partners," said John M. Scott, President and CEO of Microbonds. "The integration of our technology with MKE's leading bonding wires offers the industry another reliable source of insulated bond wire for use in an expanding array of existing and new chip and package designs, leading to yield improvements, package size reductions, performances enhancements and cost savings."
The parties expect to launch the commercial availability of MKE X-Wire(TM) by the end of the third quarter of 2007.