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20 PCB007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2022 educate policymakers and, just as importantly, to those technical experts in government who have taken pains to educate their colleagues and counterparts. It is by virtue of this collective educational and advocacy effort that, today, the U.S. gov- ernment is on the cusp of allocating $5 bil- lion or more to advanced packaging R&D and capacity-building over the next five years. But building a domestic advanced packaging ecosystem will require difficult strategic deci- sions, more coherent manufacturing policies, risky long-term bets, and greater collaboration between industry and the government. ere is certainly data to back up the indus- try's focus to propel advanced packaging for- ward. IPC recently surveyed nearly 100 indus- try leaders in semiconductors and related fields, and we learned that there is strong sup- port for increased public and private invest- ment in advanced packaging efforts. For example, 94% of electronics indus- try leaders report that improving the perfor- mance of semiconductors is increasingly reli- ant on advanced packaging. In addition, 84% believe that government initiatives to bolster the semiconductor supply chain require sig- nificant investment in advanced packaging capabilities. e survey is part of a new report titled "Towards a Robust Advanced Packaging Ecosystem." IPC is an industry leader in standards devel- opment, workforce training, industry intelli- gence, and advocacy. Much of IPC's work in these areas centers around electronic intercon- nection and, of course, electronic intercon- nection is core to advancements in packaging. IPC's representation of the advanced packag- ing industry, then, carries on work IPC has been doing in collaboration with leading elec- tronics manufacturers for decades here in the U.S. and around the globe. Please visit ipc.org to learn more. PCB007 Dr. John Mitchell is president and CEO of IPC. To read past columns, click here. Researchers from Oxford University's Department of Materials have developed a technique to precisely manipulate and place nanowires with sub-micron accuracy. This discovery could accelerate the devel- opment of even smaller and more powerful computer chips. The innovative method uses novel tools, includ- ing ultra-thin filaments of polyethylene terephthal- ate (PET) with tapered nanoscale tips that are used to pick up individual nanowires. The nanowires are then transferred to a transparent dome-shaped elas- tic stamp mounted on a glass slide. This stamp is then turned upside down and aligned with the device chip, with the nanowire then printed gently onto the sur- face. Deposited nanowires showed strong adhesive qualities, remaining in place even when the device was immersed in liquid. The research team were also able to place nanowires on fragile substrates, such as ultra-thin 50 nanometre membranes, demonstrat- ing the delicacy and versatility of the stamping tech- nique. Nanowires, materials with diameters 1000 times smaller than a human hair. Their minuscule size could allow the development of smaller transistors and min- iaturised computer chips. A major obstacle, however, to realising the full potential of nanowires has been the inability to precisely position them within devices. DPhil student Utku Emre Ali, who developed the technique, said: 'This new pick-and-place assem- bly process has enabled us to create first-of-its-kind devices in the nanowire realm…Furthermore, this technique could be fully automated, making full-scale fabrication of high quality nanowire-integrated chips a real possibility.' (University of Oxford News & Events) Discovery of New Nanowire Assembly Process Could Enable More Powerful Computer Chips