Ziptronix to License 3D IC Technology for Imaging Systems

"We believe that low temperature oxide bonding technology will pave the way for low cost 3D IC integration for the foreseeable future," said Dan Donabedian, CEO of Ziptronix, Inc. "In addition to high reliability military focal plane arrays, our technology has the potential for use in high volume consumer electronics applications such as cell phone cameras and digital cameras."

Ziptronix, Inc., based in Research Triangle Park, NC, is a leader in IP for innovative 3D integration technology for advanced CMOS ICs, with established patent protection for its ZiBond(TM) low temperature covalent bonding (US Patent 7,387,944) and DBI® direct bond interconnect (US Patent 6,962,835) technologies.

Ziptronix' DBI technology enables reliable, repeatable, low cost wafer-to-wafer or die-to-wafer bonding without the need for high temperature compression techniques that can lower yields and raise processing costs. A key feature in the Ziptronix technology is the ability to use several DBI metals, including nickel or copper, to reliably interconnect to copper, tungsten or aluminum TSVs, while providing for adequate planarity of the oxide/metal interface to achieve a strong, reliable bond. This process supports both backside and frontside interconnects, maximizing the density of electrical connections between the separate layers and extending bandwidth by alleviating interconnect delays with scalable 3D routing.

For more information about Ziptronix' 3D IC technology and its licensing agreement with Raytheon Vision Systems, contact Chris Sanders at c.sanders@ziptronix.com, call 919-459-2444 or visit www.ziptronix.com.

About Ziptronix

Ziptronix is a pioneer in the development of low temperature oxide bonding technology for advanced semiconductor applications. Founded in October 2000, Ziptronix was spun out from North Carolina's RTI International for the purpose of commercializing their revolutionary wafer and die bonding (ZiBond(TM)) and interconnect (DBI®) technologies. The company has an extensive worldwide patent portfolio covering the fundamental concepts behind economical low temperature oxide bonding.

Ziptronix technology provides the lowest cost solution for low temperature wafer-to-wafer and die-to-wafer bonding, delivering significant advantages in size reduction, lower production costs, lower power consumption and increased system performance.

Ziptronix licenses its technology to customers across the entire semiconductor manufacturing supply chain -- OEMs/IDMs, foundries, semiconductor equipment manufacturers and OSATs -- to enable them to quickly implement reliable, economical 3D IC integration using standard processing equipment.