Amkor licenses Lead-Free wafer bumping technology to AMD

Amkor Technology, Inc. announced that AMD has entered into an agreement to license Amkor's lead free (Pb-free) electroplated wafer bumping technology. Terms of the license agreement were not disclosed.

"As one of the first microprocessor manufacturers to innovate with lead-free bumping technology, AMD is continuing its track record of environmental responsibility and customer-centric thinking in how we produce our products," said David Bennett, vice president of strategic manufacturing and alliances at AMD. "We are very pleased to license Amkor's technology as we drive towards a lead-free solution for AMD products."

"AMD's decision to license our Unitive lead free bumping technology is an indication of Amkor's technological leadership in advanced packaging applications," said Oleg Khaykin, EVP and COO of Amkor. "We are currently in discussion with other companies to foster broader industry adoption and support of our advanced Wafer Level Packaging technology."

Wafer bumping is the process of depositing tiny solder "bumps" onto fabricated semiconductor wafers and is a key step in creating flip chip-based IC packages. The growing adoption of flip chip packaging, coupled with the "Green" electronics movement, means that semiconductor manufacturers will increasingly turn to Pb-free wafer bumping technology.