Multimedia Gallery
Ball Semiconductor (Image 2)
A spherical semiconductor and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device technology.
The unique technology was the foundation for which Ball Semiconductor Inc. (Allen, Texas) was created. While the technology has an obvious advantage of having a larger available surface area in a given footprint, the development of its materials, processes, device designs and fabrication methods have led to numerous new findings.
Ball semiconductor device development efforts have been concentrated in five key technology areas: single-crystal sphere fabrication, non-contact process methods, lithographic techniques, design protocols and assembly methods. While its unique, single-crystal manufacturing method has led to a new breakthrough in fabricating materials in other applications and industries, many new sensor device technologies have also been discovered to enable a much wider range and more accurate measurement than what was conventionally possible. Additionally, its unique processing techniques have demonstrated new potential in multiple ball stacks, new bonding and bumping technologies, and new production environment designs.
One of the key elements, the lithography techniques to patter around the curved surface directly from the device design's CAD data, has developed into its own technology to provide high-resolution, direct imaging solutions to benefit other applications and industries such as PCB, HDI-packaging, FPD and MEMS fabrication. (Date of Image: unknown) [See Related Image.]
SORRY: THIS IMAGE IS NOT AVAILABLE IN HIGH-RESOLUTION FORMAT
Credit: Research and photo by component technology group at Ball Semiconductor Inc. (U.S. Pat. 5,955,776); Akira Ishikawa (Founder)--spherical shaped semiconductor integrated circuit
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