Veeco Ropes in a Leading Memory Chip Manufacturer

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) announced that one of the world’s leading memory chip manufacturers ordered multiple AP300 lithography systems to support the fast growing demand for DRAM with copper pillars.

As quoted in the press release:

The company selected the Veeco tools for their versatility in addressing advanced packaging applications, proven reliability in supporting high volume manufacturing and low total cost of ownership.

This approach echoes a larger industry trend, with more and more memory manufacturers exploring the use of Cu pillars in DRAM interconnect applications due to their higher input/output (I/O) density, improved electrical performance and better thermal efficiency. “Within the DRAM market, the interconnect is shifting from wire bond to flip chip,” said Jan Vardaman, president of semiconductor packaging analyst firm TechSearch International, Inc. “We project that over the next three years, the annual number of flip chip interconnects in DRAM will grow 29 percent on a unit volume basis.”

The AP300 is part of a family of lithography systems built on Veeco’s customizable Unity Platform™, which delivers superior overlay, resolution and side wall profile performance, driving highly automated, cost-effective manufacturing for customers. The system is particularly well suited for Cu pillar, fan-out, through-silicon via (TSV) and silicon interposer applications. A low risk, low cost, high volume manufacturing solution, the AP300 is staged to support rapid market adoption of advanced packaging applications among memory manufacturers.

“The growing demand for innovative, alternative solutions to wire bonding in memory presents a strong opportunity for Veeco,” said Rezwan Lateef, vice president and general manager of lithography products at Veeco. “Furthermore, this significant customer adoption validates the AP300’s ability to address advanced packaging applications in a broader high-volume production market. To meet this demand, we are strengthening our regional technical staff to support numerous memory manufacturers looking to fast-track adoption.”

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