Dutch back-end semiconductor experts are exploring the idea of establishing an independent assembly and test facility for panel-level packaging. The concept was recently presented at a meeting in Nieuwspoort in The Hague.
“The idea for an independent panel-level back-end for Europe emerged at the board table of High Tech NL,” says Joep Stokkermans, R&D director at Nexperia subsidiary Itec and co-initiator of the plan. Such a back-end foundry could be viable, according to the initial brainstorming sessions.
In semiconductor terminology, a company that handles chip packaging on behalf of manufacturers is called an OSAT, short for “outsourced semiconductor assembly and test.” Most OSAT facilities are located in Asia, but the initiators believe such a back-end foundry could also work in Europe if it’s fully automated. “The current shift toward panel-based manufacturing makes a ‘lights-out’ factory possible,” says Stokkermans. Panels are large square carriers (typically between 300×300 and 600×600 millimeters) on which chips undergo packaging processes.
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