Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1490123
78 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2023 Helbich: Exactly. e PCB area is a very large field, and we offer a range of products that have earned us a market-leading position. I'm cur- rently working for our semiconductor area. We have all kinds of technology leading in cer- tain areas, which we can talk more about in this interview. Starkey: What products and applications do you specialize in when it comes to the semi- conductor field? Helbich: To answer that question, I'll start with our three pillars. Our first is electrochemical deposition, which primarily comprises our products for the advanced packaging fields. en we have electroless deposition, where we have strong products, for example, for power electronics; and we have our third pillar, which is the damascene chemistry. Starkey: Could you explain a little about the damascene chemistry? at's a concept I'm unfamiliar with. Helbich: Damascene chemistry is mostly cop- per- and cobalt-based; it's the first plating step adjacent to the front-end part of the chip. e role of the damascene layers is to connect the different transistor segments with each other and translate the small structures on the sili- con wafers with the larger structures you need to contact the advanced packaging layer. e damascene process uses a copper or cobalt chemistry to form the electrical con- nections on a chip between the transistors, and between transistors and the external world. We call these electrical connections intercon- nects. e interconnects closest to the transis- tor device level, which we call the "front end of the line," are the smallest and most challeng- ing to form. As you build up the additional lay- ers, the interconnects become larger and will finally connect the chip to the outside world via advanced packaging metallization. Starkey: I think I can visualize it now. My back- ground is in electrochemistry and some of the electroless chemistry, but I've always seen MKS Atotech as a world leader in those tech- nologies—principally in the printed circuit board application area. Helbich: Right. e damascene chemistry is also an electrochemical deposition process. We internally separate it into a third pillar because the processes have different requirements than processes targeted toward advanced packag- ing applications. e damascene field is really where we are talking about the smallest plated structures of only some nanometers, much smaller than what you would find on PCBs. Starkey: Just looking around the booth I can see that you have a big feature on advanced pack- aging. Very briefly, can you give me an over- view of this area? Helbich: Of course. We have a variety of applica- tions for advanced packaging and wet chemical processes. I think the two major ones would be redistribution layers (RDLs), and the other one is pillars, which we most oen combine with Tobias Helbich