Chipmakers focus on heat dissipation in manufacturing process upgrades

High heat dissipation and other thermal management technologies are increasingly required for both front- and back-end chipmaking processes by companies engaged in the automotive, HPC, industrial and network chip segments, according to industry sources.

Materials demand for manufacturing processes with enhanced heat dissipation performance has been growing robustly, said the sources. At OSATs, for example, not only conventional wirebonding and flip-chip packaging but also advanced wafer-level packaging now all demand thermal management technologies.

According to sources at IC packaging leadframe suppliers, ASE Technology has developed its proprietary aQFN (advanced quad flat no-lead) packaging technology to deliver better heat dissipation than traditional QFN processes. The OSAT’s aQFN packaging has attracted orders from Qualcomm and MediaTek, and several major automotive chip vendors, said the sources.

Besides, ASE’s aQFN technology is already competitive with BT substrate-based flip chip packaging with much lower materials costs, the sources indicated.

ASE has also rolled out its proprietary HP FC-BGA (high-performance flip chip ball grid array) packaging to deliver further enhanced heat dissipation for server chips, and other midrange to high-end device applications. Materials used in ASE’s HP FC-BGA are already in high demand, the sources noted.

Despite slowdowns in demand for handsets and other consumer electronics devices, suppliers of leadframes and other packaging materials remain upbeat about their sales prospects this year, according to the sources.

High heat dissipation and other thermal management technologies are also being demanded in the manufacture of third-generation semiconductors, the sources said. Materials for SiC power modules for use in Tesla’s EVs, for example, all require feature upgrades with enhanced heat dissipation performance.