Article Abstract:
Commercial-grade tantalum has a level of quality that is sufficient for the vast majority of mill product applications but fails to fulfill the requirements of high-performance products such as sputtering targets. The proper thermomechanical processing of large-diameter ingots of high-purity tantalum ensures the purity and metallurgical attributes necessary to assure the utmost reliability of tantalum sputtering targets. Superior sputtering performance is achieved from tantalum targets that possess textural and microstructural homogeneity.
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Article Abstract:
Texas Instruments' Silicon Technology Development group in Dallas, TX, has developed an optimized low-pressure/high-speed chemical mechanical polishing process for phosphosilicate glass as the premetal dielectric material. One of the advantages of the newly discovered process is its high polish rate while maintaining a good within-wafer nonuniformity and providing a 20%-30% reduction of within-die nonuniformity. The process is also less sensitive to pressure being applied at the edge of the polishing head and leads to less pad wear.
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Article Abstract:
The continuing requirement for reduced thickness of smart cards requires advanced pre-assembly methods. The most common process sequence leading to thin wafers involves taping the wafer's active side, backgrinding the wafer and etching the backside. Before assembly, detaping and separation should also be conducted. On the assembly line, the chips pass through die bonding, wire bonding and encapsulation, which is followed by electrical testing. The modules become ready for shipment after completion of the electrical testing.
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