The Korea Packaging Industry Association (Chairman Hyun-ho Kim, KPIA, located in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province) is joining hands with a Japanese packaging research center to develop new materials for heterojunction and multi-stage lamination to implement advanced packaging technologies such as chiplets and 3D, and to support companies in developing advanced processes.

The Korea Electronic Packaging Industry Association announced on the 29th that it signed a business agreement with the Fukuoka IST (Fukuoka Industry, Science & Technology Foundation) 3D Semiconductor Research Center (Director Tadashi Suetsugu, located in Fukuoka), a Japanese public interest incorporated foundation, at the Fukuoka 3D Semiconductor Research Center to support companies in the electronic packaging field for the development of ultra-gap technologies for advanced semiconductor packaging.

Advanced packaging is emerging as a key technology as the demand for high-performance, multi-functional semiconductors increases due to the digital transformation, overcoming technological limitations in fine processing and the increasing need for single packaging of individual devices.

In particular, the development of new materials for heterojunction and multi-stage stacking to implement advanced packaging technologies such as chiplets and the development of advanced processes have become the main topics of discussion for securing ultra-gap semiconductor technologies.

Following Taiwan's TSMC, the world's number one semiconductor foundry (contract manufacturing), Samsung Electronics decided to build a semiconductor production line in Japan, which was influenced by Japan's high level of material, component, and equipment technology.

As the importance of semiconductor post-processing increases, the 'Big 2 foundries'rsquo; It appears that they have a strong will to develop new technologies by cooperating with Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises that are competitive in their respective fields.

This is a clear example showing that our country also needs to support international cooperation in developing cutting-edge semiconductor packaging technology to develop the semiconductor industry, which is our main industry.

In particular, Japan ranks first in the global semiconductor materials market with a 55% share. According to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the photoresist market, which is essential for semiconductor production, is dominated by Japanese companies at over 90%. JSR and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo alone have over 50% of the market share. This is why collaboration with Japan is so important in the field of advanced packaging.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced a new project to establish a research and development cooperation system and joint research and development with leading global research institutes and leading companies to secure competitiveness in advanced packaging technology.

Advanced packaging is a key area for securing a global supply chain for system semiconductors, and the government has announced that it will continue to work to strengthen the competitiveness of semiconductor packaging technology and create a robust (R&D) ecosystem, including promoting large-scale international research cooperation development projects to develop leading semiconductor advanced packaging technologies.

In this situation, the signing of a business agreement between the Fukuoka 3D Semiconductor Research Center and the Korea Packaging Industry Association, the only company in Japan with a complete post-processing line funded by public funds and developing packaging technology, is very significant.

Through this agreement, the two organizations promised to cooperate with each other in the following areas: △Establishing a cooperative system to secure technological prowess in the cutting-edge industry sector, △Promoting joint planning of research projects, establishing a cooperative network, and establishing an expert support system, △Providing testing and certification consulting technology for materials, parts, and equipment (S&D) research and development (R&D) companies, △Joint use of infrastructure facilities owned by both organizations, and △Promoting domestic and international standardization activities and joint hosting of seminars.

As the importance of the semiconductor post-processing industry is increasing in the global competition for leadership in the semiconductor market, which represents cutting-edge industries, electronic mounting technology is also receiving more attention. The packaging market, which corresponds to the semiconductor post-processing process, is expected to grow from $53.8 billion (approximately KRW 70 trillion) in 2022 to $64.9 billion (approximately KRW 87 trillion) in 2025.

The Korea Real Estate Industry Association is expanding its capabilities by carrying out R&D development and talent training projects in collaboration with academia, industry, and research in various fields such as semiconductor convergence components, 5G and THz ultra-high-speed communications, future automobiles, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Kim Hyeon-ho, chairman of the Korea Assembly Industry Association, said, “Semiconductor advanced packaging and other electronic assembly technologies are becoming core technologies of the semiconductor industry that can evolve from the limits of semiconductor miniaturization to high performance and low power consumption,” and emphasized that “forming an industry-academia-research ecosystem in the semiconductor electronic assembly field is not a choice but a necessary direction for our country’s future survival. We will do our best to strengthen the technology and competitiveness of our companies and revitalize the electronic assembly industry ecosystem by establishing an efficient corporate support network through this business agreement with the Fukuoka 3D Semiconductor Center in Japan.”