United Microelectronics (UMC) has developed a thick-plated copper process, in collaboration with packaging house Chipbond Technology, for power management IC applications.

The new solution provides thick-plated copper layers to achieve higher current flow and better thermal dissipation, UMC said. The thick-plated copper process also reduces chip resistance by 20% or more compared with conventional aluminum top metal - resulting in increasing power conversion efficiency and extending battery life.

As the integrated converter requires fewer and smaller passive components for the power system, the resulting smaller size printed circuit boards makes the application ideal for slim-profile mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets and ultrabooks.

The thick-plated copper process is now ready for 8-inch BCD (Bipolar/CMOS/DMOS) processes including 0.35-, 0.25- and 0.18-micron nodes, UMC revealed. A 0.11-micron BCD process with thick-plated copper will also be available in the coming months.

By: DocMemory
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