Kulicke & Soffa and ROHM Semiconductor Develop New CuFirst™ Hybrid Bonding Process
Rhea-AI Summary
Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ: KLIC) and ROHM Semiconductor (TYO: 6963) have announced the development of a new CuFirst™ Hybrid Bonding Process leveraging K&S's Fluxless Thermo-Compression (FTC) technology. The new process, integrated with the APTURA™ FTC system, aims to address limitations of existing hybrid bonding solutions, such as yield challenges and high costs. The CuFirst process bonds the copper interconnect first, leading to higher yields and lower infrastructure costs. K&S expects its TCB business to grow by 40-50% in fiscal year 2025, driven by its leadership in FTC and growing demand in various markets.
Positive
- Development of CuFirst™ Hybrid Bonding Process.
- Addresses yield challenges and high costs of existing solutions.
- Expected TCB business growth of 40-50% in fiscal year 2025.
Negative
- Existing hybrid solutions face yield challenges and high costs.
Insights
The development of CuFirst™ hybrid bonding represents a significant technological advancement in semiconductor packaging. This innovation directly addresses key industry challenges in chip-to-wafer hybrid bonding, particularly regarding yield and cost efficiency. The projected 40-50% growth in TCB business for FY2025 signals strong market validation and adoption potential.
The technical breakthrough lies in the sequential bonding process - copper interconnects first, followed by dielectric connection at room temperature. This approach significantly reduces infrastructure requirements and improves cost economics compared to conventional methods. The APTURA™ FTC system's versatility in handling multiple bonding configurations (die-to-die, die-to-substrate, die-to-wafer) positions K&S favorably in the growing chiplet ecosystem.
The 10x growth in TCB business over four years demonstrates strong execution and market penetration. With increasing demand for advanced packaging solutions in compute, optical and communications sectors, this innovation strengthens K&S's competitive position in the high-growth semiconductor packaging market.
Kulicke & Soffa's recently released APTURA™ FTC system, combined with technology innovations from ROHM, have successfully enhanced chip-to-wafer hybrid bonding with the innovative copper-first – CuFirst™ – hybrid solution. While existing die-to-wafer hybrid bonding capacity can enable significant I/O density – yield challenges, cost of ownership, and front-end processing requirements are limiting the adoption rate and market potential of existing hybrid solutions.
The CuFirst hybrid solution, utilizing the K&S APTURA FTC platform, addresses these production limitations and challenges. With the emerging CuFirst process, the copper interconnect is bonded first – leveraging the APTURA platform's FTC capability – then the dielectric (SiOx) connection is made once the device returns to room temperature. This CuFirst process is expected to support higher yields, lower infrastructure costs and better cost of ownership compared to conventional die-to-wafer hybrid bonding. In addition to CuFirst hybrid, the APTURA FTC system also supports traditional flux- and fluxless-based thermo-compression bonding (TCB), including the direct bonding of copper-to-copper pillars – down to an 8µm pitch. This system can also accommodate die-to-die, die-to-substrate, or die-to-wafer configurations comprehensively addressing a broad range of material handling and end-application requirements.
"Through ongoing R&D commitments and collaborations, we have become a critical enabler supporting the industry's transition to a chiplet ecosystem. Our TCB business has grown by ten times over the past four years, and industry momentum continues to accelerate," said Bob Chylak, Kulicke and Soffa's Chief Technology Officer.
The Company expects its leadership in FTC to further extend as the need for more complex assembly solutions continue to grow. During fiscal year 2025, K&S anticipates its TCB business will increase by 40
About Kulicke & Soffa
Founded in 1951, Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. specializes in developing cutting-edge semiconductor and electronics assembly solutions enabling a smarter and more sustainable future. Our ever-growing range of products and services supports growth and facilitates technology transitions across large-scale markets, such as advanced display, automotive, communications, compute, consumer, data storage, energy storage and industrial.
Caution Concerning Results, Forward-Looking Statements and Certain Risks Related to our Business
In addition to historical statements, this press release contains statements relating to future events and our future results. These statements are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these forward-looking statements represent our judgments and future expectations concerning our business, including the importance and competitiveness of our thermo-compression bonding products and other advanced packaging technology transitions, a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors could cause actual developments and results to differ materially from our expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to our ability to develop, manufacture and gain market acceptance of new and enhanced products, disruptions, breaches or failures in our information technology systems and network infrastructures, the persistent macroeconomic headwinds on our business, actual or potential inflationary pressures, interest rate and risk premium adjustments, falling customer sentiment, or economic recession caused directly or indirectly by geopolitical tensions, our ability to operate our business in accordance with our business plan and the other factors listed or discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023, filed on November 16, 2023, and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts
Kulicke & Soffa
Marilyn Sim
Public Relations
+65-6880 9309
msim@kns.com
Kulicke & Soffa
Joseph Elgindy
Finance
+1-215-784-7500
investor@kns.com
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SOURCE Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc.
FAQ
What is the CuFirst™ Hybrid Bonding Process announced by KLIC?
How will the CuFirst™ process impact Kulicke and Soffa's business in 2025?
What are the benefits of the CuFirst™ Hybrid Bonding Process for KLIC?
Which markets are driving the expected growth for KLIC's TCB business?
