Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1493443
76 PCB007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2023 Introduction ere has been much written and discussed over the last 18 months relating to semiconduc- tor fabrication and the well-founded concerns that the U.S., in particular, has fallen behind in domestic chip manufacturing. In response to this issue, the U.S. government has enacted the CHIPS and Science Act. Funding under this legislation is designed to drive more chip fab- rication domestically. While this is all fine and good, once these advanced chips are manufac- tured, where will they go? As has been said ad nauseum, "Chips don't float." ese chips require packaging and, in turn, advanced PWBs to support those packages. e PWB and the IC substrates are the phys- ical platform to which these chips, micro-pro- cessers, capacitors, memory, logic, etc., are mounted and interconnected. Without a high- reliability, high density platform, the chips have nowhere to go. is is precisely why crit- ical technologies, processes, and materials must be adopted to support chip production and advanced packaging. e subject of this month's column is to delineate critical areas in which fabricators in the PWB world must both embrace and mas- ter to support advanced packaging. ese are: • Tooling and materials selection • Small hole drilling/via formation • Desmear and metallization • Advanced photolithography and fine-line etching • Blind-via plating/blind and buried via hole fill • Signal integrity • Quality control and qualifications Part 1 of this article will focus on the follow- ing areas: •Tooling and materials selection • Small hole drilling/via formation • Desmear and metallization Supporting IC Substrates, Advanced Packaging, Part 1 Trouble in Your Tank by Michael Carano, RBP CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY