A*STAR and industry form R&D joint lab

The Advanced Semiconductor Joint Labs will develop and advance semiconductor technologies for future electronics markets. The industry partners involved in this international collaboration are: Applied Materials, Dai Nippon Printing, DISCO, KLA-Tencor, Mentor Graphics, Nikon, Panasonic Factory Solutions Asia Pacific, PINK, Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo. Katsuhiko Omoto, President, Panasonic Factory Solutions Co., Ltd.: “Panasonic Factory Solutions Co., Ltd. is continually conducting extensive research to develop and create technologies that can help its customers to achieve competitive edge in productivity and create value added solutions to their customers. We are confident that the strategic alliance with A*STAR and Joint-Lab members will result in the development of advanced flip chip bonding technologies that will support next generation's semiconductor packaging.” While expectations are for smart devices to sustain a compact form factor, consumers also expect powerful performance and low power consumption. The challenge for the semiconductor industry is to meet these needs by addressing system and integration scaling in the electronics market[1]. The four joint labs in lithography, wafer level packaging (WLP), metrology and assembly, will provide an integrated platform for semiconductor R&D, starting with patterning[2], further development of 3D Integrated Circuits (IC)[3], quality control, and finally, the assembly and high-volume manufacturing of chips. Kazuo Ushida, President and Representative Director, Nikon Corporation: "Through this collaboration with A*STAR IME, Nikon will gain knowledge of future process technology and total solutions, which will be important for our lithography system development. We are very excited to partner with one of the most advanced and established institutes in the Asia region.” Together, the four labs will enable the development of innovative semiconductor technologies and allow partners to undertake solutions-oriented semiconductor R&D and facilitate commercialisation that is earlier, faster and cheaper. This international partnership also bears testament to the industry relevance of IME's deep research capabilities, and will encourage further development of solutions for global implementation. Mr Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman of A*STAR, said, “The launch of IME’s Advanced Semiconductor Joint Labs today is an excellent example of public-private partnership under an open innovation framework. I am pleased that A*STAR IME has entered into this strategic partnership with many leading global industry players to capture new growth opportunities for Singapore and the region. The launch of the Advanced Semiconductor Joint Labs reaffirms A*STAR’s deep capabilities and strong infrastructure in the R&D ecosystem to serve the growing needs of the semiconductor industry.”