Hanwha Semitec said on the 25th that it has succeeded in developing a "hybrid bonder," a technology seen as key to the next-generation semiconductor packaging market. Hanwha Semitec said it plans to deliver the completed "second-generation hybrid bonder" to customers in the first half of this year for performance testing.
Hybrid bonding is drawing attention as a next-generation technology that will dramatically boost the performance and production efficiency of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). It directly bonds chips to chips on copper (Cu) surfaces, enabling the manufacture of highly stacked 16- to 20-layer HBM with a thin profile. With no bumps connecting chips to chips, it offers faster data transmission and lower power consumption than existing products.
Hanwha Semitec's "SHB2 Nano" applies ultra-precise alignment technology with a positional error range of 0.1 μm (micrometer). 0.1 μm is about one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair. Building on the 2022 supply of its first-generation hybrid bonder to customers and the successful development of the second generation, the company plans to introduce mass-production equipment to the market in the near term.
A Hanwha Semitec official said, "With continued investment in advanced technology development, we have solved the technical challenges of hybrid bonding and finally put the product on the market's main track," adding, "This new technology development has laid another steppingstone for leading the advanced packaging market."
Alongside hybrid bonder development, the company plans to further strengthen its position in the TC bonder market. Hanwha Semitec generated more than 90 billion won in revenue last year from TC bonder products, and two supply contracts were concluded in succession in Jan. and Feb. this year. It is also developing a second-generation TC bonder to target the next-generation HBM equipment market. This year, it plans to roll out new TC bonder models and fluxless TC bonders that reduce the gap between chips in succession.