October 26, 2011 -- North Dakota State University, Fargo, researchers have developed a packaging technology using Thermo-Mechanical Selective Laser Assisted Die Transfer (tmSLADT) to reduce the size and cost of microelectronics packages.

Laser-Enabled Advanced Packaging (LEAP) can be scaled to high volumes, and is a contactless assembly method for ultrathin semiconductor chips onto rigid and flexible substrates. NDSU researchers have successfully implemented LEAP to fabricate a functional electronic device on a flexible substrate.

Figure 1. Microelectronics packaging developed at North Dakota State University, Fargo. Laser-Enabled Advanced Packaging (LEAP) uses Thermo-Mechanical Selective Laser Assisted Die Transfer (tmSLADT).

The technology has been under development by the Advanced Electronics Packaging research group at the North Dakota State University Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), Fargo, N. D., since 2008. The research group is led by Dr. Val Marinov, associate professor of manufacturing engineering; and includes Dr. Orven Swenson, associate professor of physics at NDSU; Ross Miller, research engineer apprentice; and CNSE research staff, graduate students and undergraduate research assistants.

The laser-assisted packaging process selectively and rapidly places ultra-thin (<50µm) semiconductor chips at specific locations and orientations with high precision. The technology can be used with active and passive components. The tmSLADT process also has potential value in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication or other micro-assembly applications.

Figure 2. The LEAP packaging enables flexible packages that can bend, roll and be manipulated into complex geometries, as shown in the Alien Technology Squiggle RFID tag pictured.

Applications include RFID tags in garments, intelligent sensor networks, self-adapting conformal antennas, and other defense and consumer products.
 
"Laser-Enabled Advanced Packaging of Ultrathin Bare Dice in Flexible Substrates" has been accepted for publication by IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology, manuscript TCPMT-2011-105. Another manuscript, “Noncontact Selective Laser-Assisted Placement of Thinned Semiconductor Dice,” is currently under peer review.
 
This material is based on research sponsored by the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) under agreement number H94003-11-2-1102.

Learn more about North Dakota State University at http://www.ndsu.edu/

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