IMAPS Conference - Great Stuff!

The International Microelectronics and Packaging Society (IMAPS) recently wrapped up their 6th International Conference and Exhibition on Device Packaging.  For those of us that couldn't swing a week in Scottsdale, we can thank Dr. Phil Garrou, the event's General Chair, and well known 3D technology expert, for posting a great synopsis.  Some of the key points include:

While several 3-D IC manufacturing programs are expected to ramp beginning in 2012, experts agree that challenges remain in materials selection, design, test and other critical areas.

That sounds good, but the slope of the adoption curve may be a bit more gentle than some of us hope…

… projection sees 3-D TSVs growing to 12% of the overall $59B IC package market by 2020.

We've been having internal discussions regarding the availability of EDA tools that can effectively address vertical integration, so I was interested in the suggestion that:

Design is viewed as a 3-D infrastructure segment that is coming along, albeit slowly.

Dr. Bottoms might disagree, and based on what I've seen, I'm more aligned with Dr. Bottoms' position.

Dr. Garrou shares lots of other good stuff.  It's well worth your time to take a look at his report.

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