NANIUM develops package solution for biomedical applications

NANIUM, acknowledged for its experience in designing and developing innovative semiconductor packaging solutions, announced it has developed the first Wafer-Level Fan-Out (WLFO) package for biomedical microfluidic application, embedding a 5.5×1.2mm2 bio-detection chip on a 10x4mm2 WLFO package that includes a 8mm long fluid channel. The package has a direct exposure of the chip active area to the fluid, a feature made possible with NANIUM’s innovative Keep-Out-Zone (KOZ) technology.

“The Wafer-Level Fan-Out technology is especially well suited for microfluidic applications, as the fluid channel can extend beyond the chip, utilizing the inexpensive Fan-Out area of the package”, explains André Cardoso, R&D Integrator responsible for the project. “In this case, the microfluidic channel is much longer than the chip itself, and the chip represents only 16% of the package area. This is a tremendous cost saving on the biochip, because the use of a smaller chip increases by one order of magnitude the number of chips in a front-end wafer”.

“This new development is allowing us to merge microfluidic systems with silicon based biochips leading to a clear advantage in miniaturization and cost saving”, explains Filipe Cardoso, CTO of Magnomics, the end-user of this newly developed package solution.

Another foreseen advantage of WLFO for biomedical microfluidic applications is the possibility of the microfluidic channel to cross several chips inside the same WLFO package, leading to a true “Lab-On-Package” solution and further expanding WLFO technology market segments.

About NANIUM

NANIUM is a world-class provider of semiconductor assembly, packaging, test, engineering and manufacturing services. The company started as Siemens Semiconductors back in 1996 and nowadays is a leader in 300mm Wafer-Level Packaging (WLP), both Fan-In/WLCSP and Fan-Out/WLFO. NANIUM offers in-house capabilities for the entire development chain, from design to multiple Wafer-Level Packaging technologies, and the flexibility to tailor and test solutions that respond to the most demanding customer requirements. The company is based near Porto, Portugal, and has offices in Dresden, Germany and Boston, USA.

Source: http://www.nanium.com/