February 14, 2014, Seoul – Honeywell announced that it is introducing a new 'RadLo™ Low Alpha Plating Anodes' material based on its proprietary technology to reduce alpha particle radiation, which can cause semiconductor data errors.

The newly introduced anode material for plating for semiconductor packaging wafer bumping applications is increasing Honeywell’s RadLo shipments. This utilizes Honeywell’s proprietary measurement and purification technologies.

Chris Lee, Product Line Director of Honeywell’s Advanced Metal and Polymers business unit, said, “This new ‘low-alpha plating anode’ material is already being mass-produced by major subcontractors and has also been validated by many OEM tool manufacturers,” adding, “The rapid validation and adoption of this product proves that Honeywell is making a significant contribution to meeting customer requirements and solving problems.”

Alpha particle radiation emitted from semiconductor packaging materials causes data errors in memory cells, leading to soft errors, which in turn cause malfunctions in electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, servers, and game consoles. As semiconductor sizes shrink and functional requirements increase, the sensitivity of chips to soft errors has also grown. To address this problem, semiconductor packaging material designers have turned their attention to low-alpha materials such as Honeywell's RadLo.

In cases like this where alpha radiation levels are extremely low, accurately measuring alpha flow is very difficult due to background radiation such as contaminants and cosmic rays. However, Honeywell is solving these problems through thorough measurement and process control.

The introduction of RadLo anodes contributes to the semiconductor industry's transition to flip-chip packaging and the increasing use of electroplating for wafer bumping applications. Honeywell holds a leading position in the production of plating anodes for wafer bumping using high-purity (>99.99% purity) metals such as low-alpha lead (Pb), low-alpha tin (Sn), and copper (Cu). Low-alpha tin (Sn) anodes are available in several low-alpha grades, including <0.002 counts per hour (<0.002 per hour/cm2).