Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1014812
10 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2018 Feature by I-Connect007 Editorial Staff When we decided to cover the future of PCB packaging, we knew we would have to interview Charles Bauer, Ph.D., owner of TechLead Corporation. For over 35 years, Chuck has been a pioneer in electronics packaging, from 3D and system-in-package to multichip modules and nano tech- nology. He's a frequent speaker at events like SMTA International, ICEP Japan and ESTC in Europe. He also founded the Pan Pacific Micro- electronics Symposium. Chuck recently spoke with Happy Holden, Andy Shaugh- nessy and Barry Matties about current trends in packaging, the need for product designers and manufacturers to communicate, and why no matter how cool the tech- nology is, cost is still king. Happy Holden: Chuck, some of the big trends are 3D packaging and wafer- l e v e l p a c k a g i n g . Wafer-level packag- ing is of interest to a lot of our readers because the organic package substrate is a leading edge for circuit board technology. With this wafer-level packaging push, it wants to be finer and finer pitch. What does that do to the assem- bly, Chuck? Charles Bauer: First, I think that wafer-level packaging is really a misnomer because wafer-level packaging isn't really being done so much at the wafer level anymore. There's fan-in, wafer-level pack- aging, which is indeed a wafer- level packaging approach. That's relatively limited today, and I think that some of the barriers in terms of interfacing with circuit boards are going to inhibit that technology. It doesn't mean it can't be done or won't be done; it just means it's going to be inhibited in terms of pin- count because their pitch is going to be constrained by the next level of interconnection. There are countervailing trends in the assembly side of the indus- try, where we're seeing a lot more activity going on in the area of nano