Applied Materials and BE Semiconductor Industries, commonly known as Besi, have officially announced a major expansion of their strategic partnership. This collaboration focuses on co-developing cutting-edge advanced packaging technologies, including revolutionary heterogeneous integration and precision bonding methods.
As part of this agreement, Besi is stepping in as an official innovation partner within Applied Materials’ premier Silicon Valley facility. Engineers from both organizations will unite to pioneer full-flow engineering solutions that bridge wafer-level and panel-level packaging capabilities.
Scaling Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure
The global surge in artificial intelligence infrastructure demands much higher density and bandwidth configurations. To address this, the joint research will heavily target 3D integrated circuits designed specifically for advanced AI compute, memory architectures, and seamless logic-memory integration.
Innovating Hybrid Bonding and Interconnects
The collaborative teams will concentrate on engineering novel die-to-wafer hybrid bonding equipment alongside the scaling of thermo-compression bonding technology. Much like exploring fine details through microscopes, micro-scale precision is vital here as dies are directly connected to wafers utilizing copper and dielectric materials without traditional microbumps.
By eliminating these conventional microbumps, the new process significantly enhances signal transmission speeds while concurrently lowering overall power consumption. Such breakthroughs parallel the meticulous engineering found in high-grade telescopes, where clarity and maximized light transmission dictate performance.
Building a Comprehensive Ecosystem
Beyond traditional bonding, the expanded scope covers sophisticated advanced platforms such as die-on-wafer, die-on-die, die-on-panel, and co-packaged optics interconnect technologies. These initiatives build directly upon a successful 2020 collaboration in Singapore that previously produced the industry’s first integrated hybrid bonding system, known as Kinex.
This joint effort benefits immensely from the massive backing of the EPIC Center, which represents a landmark $5 billion investment bolstered by major industry leaders like Samsung, SK hynix, TSMC, and Micron. With the official unveiling ceremony scheduled for October 12, this hub is set to drastically accelerate the commercialization of next-generation semiconductor technologies.
Here is the source article for this story: ​Applied Materials, Besi to Co-Develop Hybrid Bonding at EPIC Center
