|
The following article appeared in the Midland Daily News Thursday, August
30, 2007 after journalist, Cheryl Wade interviewed Ken Seibert, Global
Marketing Manager for Device Fabrication. Ken talked about Dow Corning
Electronics' receipt of a US Patent for thin film technology and the company's
dedicated investment in Research and Development for silicone materials.
Midland Daily News
August 30, 2007
Dow Corning receives patent to make better microchip insulator
By Cheryl Wade
Dow Corning Corp.'s advanced technologies and ventures business has received
a U.S. patent on a new method for making thin films used as insulators in the
semiconductor and electronics industries.
It's too early to tell how the technology breakthrough will benefit the
company because production still is at least two or three years away, said Ken
Seibert, global marketing manager for device fabrication materials.
But the new method sends a message to others in the industry that Dow
Corning is having success in making these thin materials "a little
differently than other companies," he said.
Chip makers have used more and more improved insulating materials in recent
years to reduce electrical interference between transistors, allowing them to
be placed closer together.
That resulted in smaller, faster, more power-efficient chips. But as devices
that use chips continue to shrink, there is less room for insulation material.
As a result, that material has needed to become more and more efficient.
Conventional film materials used in insulation become more prone to damage
from high processing temperatures and start adhering poorly to the metal layers
used for chip interconnections. Dow Corning expects the new process to be used
to produce the new insulating films in future generations of chips.
"This patent demonstrates the continuing advancement of our silicon
technology, and our intent to protect our intellectual property," said
Jeroen Bloemhard, global executive director for Dow Corning's electronics and
advanced technologies industry in a news release. "We intend to remain
significant players in the silicon materials industry, and are investing in
research and development to help us satisfy the market's future needs."
Dow Corning already has worked with a couple of its customers to show them
the improvement, and they have had good results, Seibert said.
Dow Corning has worked with thin films for about 10 years, and work on this
new technology started five years ago, Seibert said.
"First, you have to develop the technology and then it takes awhile to
get customer interest because they're trying all kinds of stuff," he
said.
|
