| The
integrated circuit (IC) chip was invented in 1959. Today,
the increase
in sophistication of the tiny yet powerful chip is an enabling factor in the
rise of the Internet, the proliferation of e-business, the flourishing of wired
and wireless communications, the vividness of entertainment boxes and the intelligence
of machines and equipment.
The inventors of the IC chip, Jack
Kilby and Robert Noyce, were driven by the desire of
making more of less. At ASE, we adopt a similar aspiration
- Maximum with Minimum.
Engineers continue to pack more functions
onto an increasingly shrinking chip, while demanding higher
performance and greater speed from the chip. There is,
however, a great
challenge to how small the chip size can be reduced without
affecting desired results. This is where chip packaging
(also known as semiconductor packaging or assembly) and
testing
play an ever more crucial role.
Packaging serves to protect the
chip and facilitate electrical connections while testing
determines that the chip performs according to performance
specifications.
|
