Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) has developed a Fluxless Thermo-Compression (FTC) plasma solution for chip-to-wafer bonding. It enables direct copper-to-copper and dielectric hybrid bonding without flux, supporting ultra-fine pitches down to 8?µm (with roadmap to 3?µm). The impact is significant: it reduces design costs, improves yield, and increases transistor density, making it a key enabler for AI, HPC, memory, and advanced packaging markets.
What FTC Plasma Solution Is
- FTC = Fluxless Thermo-Compression bonding
- Traditional thermo-compression bonding uses flux to clean surfaces before bonding. Flux residues can cause reliability issues.
- KLIC’s FTC plasma solution eliminates flux, using plasma activation to prepare copper surfaces for bonding.
- APTURA™ platform
- KLIC’s APTURA™ FTC system is the first to enable high-volume production of fluxless chip-to-wafer bonding.
- Supports bumpless hybrid bonding: copper-to-copper plus dielectric-to-dielectric bonding, critical for chiplets and stacked dies.
Key Technical Impacts
- Pitch scaling:
- Previous FTC solutions were limited to ~30?µm pitch.
- KLIC’s plasma FTC achieves 8?µm pitch today, with roadmap to 3?µm, aligning with next-gen chiplet and wafer-scale integration.
- Yield improvement:
- Fluxless bonding reduces contamination and voids, improving reliability and yield.
- Density gains:
- Enables higher transistor density and tighter interconnects, crucial for AI accelerators and HPC systems.
- Cost reduction:
- Lower design complexity and fewer yield challenges compared to traditional bump-based packaging.
Market & Ecosystem Impact
- Adoption momentum:
- Over 30 FTC systems delivered to five customers, including leading foundries.
- KLIC projects 40–50% sequential growth in TCB business in FY2025, driven by AI, optical, communications, and industrial markets.
- Hybrid bonding alternative:
- Provides a path to chip-to-wafer hybrid bonding without requiring full hybrid bonding infrastructure, broadening adoption.
- Consortium collaboration:
- KLIC joined the Resonac-led US-Joint consortium to accelerate advanced packaging R&D in Silicon Valley.
Why It Matters
- For chiplets & wafer-scale AI: FTC plasma bonding is directly relevant to the Cerebras WSE-3, DensityAI wafer-scale compute, and Multibeam lithography ecosystems you’re tracking.
- Strategic positioning: KLIC is carving out a niche as a packaging enabler for ultra-dense interconnects, complementing front-end lithography advances.
- Competitive leverage: This solution helps foundries and OSATs bridge the gap between bump-based packaging and full hybrid bonding, accelerating time-to-market for advanced devices.
Bottom Line: KLIC’s FTC plasma solution is a game-changer for chip-to-wafer bonding, enabling fluxless, ultra-fine pitch hybrid bonding. It improves yield, lowers costs, and boosts density—positioning KLIC as a critical player in advanced packaging for AI, HPC, and memory markets.
Mike, since you’re tracking Cerebras, Multibeam, and DensityAI, this FTC plasma solution is directly relevant—it’s essentially the packaging counterpart to wafer-scale lithography and compute. Do you want me to map how FTC plasma bonding could integrate into wafer-scale AI engines like WSE-3 or DensityAI’s Dojo successor?
PS
Village doing its part.
:-)
ASML |
