Onto Innovation Announces Opening of Packaging Applications Center of Excellence

Customers and collaborators will have early access to next-generation glass substrate tools and software solutions to accelerate panel-level packaging R&D

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE: ONTO) today announced the opening of the company’s Packaging Applications Center of Excellence (PACE), a first-of-its-kind facility in the U.S. dedicated to panel-level packaging (PLP) innovations enabling 2.5D and 3D chiplet architectures and AI packages. Collaborating partners represent key process steps across the supply chain, ranging from panel package and IC substrate manufacturers to process equipment and material suppliers. Collaborators include: ASMPT, Corning, Evatec, Lam Research, LPKF Laser & Electronics SE, MKS Instruments, Resonac Corporation, Taiyo Ink Mfg. Co., Ltd., and multiple others.

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Onto Innovation’s Packaging Applications Center of Excellence (PACE) will accelerate panel-level packaging R&D — enabling the most advanced heterogeneous integration for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, bringing industry leaders in substrate manufacturing, process equipment, and materials together, working toward a common goal. (Photo: Business Wire)

At PACE, Onto and its collaborators will use their expert knowledge of lithography, plating, thin film deposition, laser processes for through glass via (TGV) formation, and new material developments in photoresist, dielectric and plating chemistry to work toward sub-1.5µm line/space panel interconnects. In addition, PACE participants will explore novel organic damascene process innovations for maintaining proper interconnect line widths, a critical requirement as the line/space feature size shrinks, in an effort to replace the conventional semi-additive process for advanced IC substrates.

To ensure yields for these increasingly fine interconnects, the PACE collaboration team will also focus on process control technologies like Onto’s Firefly^® G3 system. With glass core substrates being the next technology inflection, the Firefly G3 system is designed to address new inspection and metrology challenges associated with transparent panels, such as detecting missing TGVs and performing TGV critical dimension measurements across the entire panel.

“With the need for finer, denser interconnects and larger package sizes to support new AI and chiplet architectures, customers and collaborators need to accelerate their technology roadmaps and shorten the time to market,” says Mike Plisinski, chief executive officer of Onto Innovation. “Together, we will develop new panel-level packaging solutions in support of glass core substrates and the rapidly evolving AI landscape.”

Located at Onto’s Wilmington, Massachusetts, headquarters, PACE offers collaborators and customers access to Onto’s JetStep^® X500 glass panel handling lithography system, next generation lens technology for glass substrates capable of sub-1.5µm line/space imaging with shot sizes of 141mm x 141mm, and the Discover^® Command Center featuring robust data analytics, process controls and AI-enabled services integrating Onto tools and third party solutions. In addition, PACE offers secure data access, an essential need for preserving the confidentiality of partners’ datasets.

“Onto’s data platform enables partners and customers to only see data relevant to them while offering a complete view of process insights via dashboards and interactive applications,” says Danielle Baptiste, vice president and general manager of Onto’s enterprise software business.

“For Onto Innovation, PACE provides the Company the opportunity to unite the leading innovators across IC substrate and panel-level packaging manufacturing, process equipment and materials in order to solve complex challenges posed by the adoption of stable glass substrates for the next generation of compute architectures,” concludes Mr. Plisinski. “Working collaboratively with our partners and potential customers, we intend to accelerate these roadmaps and the benefits higher performance and lower power consumption devices will have on society.”

If your company is interested in becoming a collaborating partner or attending the grand opening event on September 30, 2024 at Onto’s headquarters, please contact us or reach out to your local sales team.

About Onto Innovation Inc.

Onto Innovation is a leader in process control, combining global scale with an expanded portfolio of leading-edge technologies that include: Un-patterned wafer quality; 3D metrology spanning chip features from nanometer scale transistors to large die interconnects; macro defect inspection of wafers and packages; metal interconnect composition; factory analytics; and lithography for advanced semiconductor packaging. Our breadth of offerings across the entire semiconductor value chain combined with our connected thinking approach results in a unique perspective to help solve our customers’ most difficult yield, device performance, quality, and reliability issues. Onto Innovation strives to optimize customers’ critical path of progress by making them smarter, faster and more efficient. With headquarters and manufacturing in the U.S., Onto Innovation supports customers with a worldwide sales and service organization. Additional information can be found at www.ontoinnovation.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”) which include statements relating to Onto Innovation’s business momentum and future growth; the benefit to customers and collaborators and the capabilities of Onto Innovation’s PACE, products and service; Onto Innovation’s ability to both deliver products and services consistent with our customers’ demands and expectations and strengthen its market position, Onto Innovation’s beliefs about market opportunities as well as other matters that are not purely historical data. Onto Innovation wishes to take advantage of the “safe harbor” provided for by the Act and cautions that actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of various factors, including risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Onto Innovation’s control. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the Company’s ability to leverage its resources to improve its position in its core markets; its ability to weather difficult economic environments; its ability to open new market opportunities and target high-margin markets; the strength/weakness of the back-end and/or front-end semiconductor market segments; fluctuations in customer capital spending; the Company’s ability to effectively manage its supply chain and adequately source components from suppliers to meet customer demand; the effects of political, economic, legal, and regulatory changes or conflicts on the Company's global operations; its ability to adequately protect its intellectual property rights and maintain data security; the effects of natural disasters or public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, on the global economy and on the Company’s customers, suppliers, employees, and business; its ability to effectively maneuver global trade issues and changes in trade and export license policies; the Company’s ability to maintain relationships with its customers and manage appropriate levels of inventory to meet customer demands; and the Company’s ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses and technologies. Additional information and considerations regarding the risks faced by Onto Innovation are available in Onto Innovation’s Form 10-K report for the year ended December 30, 2023 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As the forward-looking statements are based on Onto Innovation’s current expectations, the Company cannot guarantee any related future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Onto Innovation does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Source: Onto Innovation Inc.

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