News: Microelectronics
11 April 2024
CSA Catapult in South Wales officially opens advanced packaging facility
A new £1.6m facility to help accelerate electrification across the UK has officially been opened at the Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult in Newport, South Wales.
Claimed to be the first of its kind in an open-access setting in the UK, the facility’s equipment will be used by businesses to improve the performance of their semiconductor and compound semiconductor advanced packaging technologies.
Established in 2018 by UK Government agency Innovate UK (which provides funding and support for business innovation as part of UK Research and Innovation), CSA Catapult is a centre of excellence with equipment that specializes in the measurement, characterization, integration and validation of compound semiconductor technology across four areas: power electronics, advanced packaging, radio frequency (RF) and microwave, and photonics. As a not-for-profit organization, it is focused on accelerating the adoption of compound semiconductors. It works across the UK in a range of industry sectors, from automotive to medical, and from digital communications to aerospace.
As part of the Driving the Electric Revolution Industrialisation Centre (DER-IC) South West and Wales, the new advanced packaging facility was opened by the Secretary of State for Wales, David TC Davies, at an event attended by industry, academia and government.
DER-IC South West and Wales is part of the UK-wide DER-IC network (established in 2020), which is led by Newcastle University and has four regional centers across the UK (in the North East, the Midlands, the South West and Wales, and Scotland) and offers open-access equipment, facilities and expertise to the power electronics, machines and drives (PEMD) manufacturing supply chain. PEMD comprises underpinning technologies that support electrification and will, in turn, enable net zero and boost the UK economy, it is reckoned.
The new DER-IC South West and Wales facility can be used by manufacturers as a prototype facility for developing semiconductor and compound semiconductor advanced packages using novel 3D printing techniques and materials.
The new 3D printing equipment is the UK’s first in an open-access setting. The equipment enables the integration of combination, mixed metal and ceramic printing technologies for chip packages, heat sinks and printed circuit board (PCB) designs. The equipment includes:
- a multi-material 3D printer that can quickly prototype novel packages using ceramic and mixed material for higher-power and performance packaging;
- a 3D metal printer that can create fast prototypes for embedded packages and modules using copper or other conductive materials;
- an optimized laser system that can dice semiconductors and process ceramic or metal materials for novel package designs.
“The UK Government is proud to support the compound semiconductor cluster in South Wales, which is vital to our ambition for the UK to lead the world in science and technology,” said Secretary of States for Wales, David TC Davies at the official opening. “The processes being developed here means that the supply chain within the UK is strengthened, helping to protect the industry and fostering job creation,” he added.
“The opportunities this center presents to the PEMD manufacturing supply chain are significant. We’re inviting anyone in the PEMD supply chain who is interested in innovation and technology development, manufacturing scale-up and commercialization, as well as skills and workforce development to engage with us,” says DER-IC South West and Wales centre lead, Paul Jarvie. “The new DER-IC facility, installed using the funding from the DER Challenge, allows industry to explore what materials it can use to create packaging that allows chips to reach their full potential within electric cars, trains, boats and other modes of transport. Our facilities can support manufacturers to de-risk innovation and attract investment in this area. We can help develop lighter, more energy-efficient components, which can handle more power, are less expensive, and can offer better overall thermal performance,” he adds.
“CSA Catapult has significant expertise in advanced packaging, and the addition of this facility will strengthen our offering to UK businesses, helping them to de-risk, improve their technologies and bring their products to market quicker,” says CSA Catapult’s CEO Martin McHugh. “This new facility is another example of the UK government investing in areas in which it has significant strength, with compound semiconductors and advanced packaging highlighted as key strategic areas that will boost the UK economy and establish ourselves as a world leader in these fields,” he adds.
“As key funders of both the CSA Catapult and DER-IC, Innovate UK is delighted to see the opening of the DER Lab in South Wales, a first in the UK. It shows the impact that different areas of the Innovate UK system coming together can have,” says Mike Biddle, executive director for net zero at Innovate UK. “It’s another example of how we are investing in cutting-edge capability in Wales to meet the needs of businesses across the UK, and against the commitments we have made in our collaborative innovation plan for Wales. The Lab is a cutting-edge resource for industry to de-risk innovation and strengthen the supply chain – this will be an invaluable facility for the semiconductor sector and the diverse PEMD community.”
The center has already attracted significant interest from major industrial partners across the aerospace and transport sectors. Dycotec Materials aims to develop a 3D printing process to improve performance, reliability and significantly reduce the cost of packages and modules for automotive applications.
Meanwhile, CSA Catapult and Carbon Forest Products are involved in a project to create a 3D graphite heat sink for use in automotive systems.
UK funding of £14m for open-access power semiconductor test & packaging equipment
CSA Catapult highlights role of compound semiconductors in the green hydrogen ecosystem
