Report on the
IEEE CPMT
Ambassador People-to-People Delegation Visit to the People's Republic
of China
By John W. Stafford
A delegation of specialists in (1) the packaging and assembly of semiconductors, (2) assembly of semiconductors (packaged or non packaged die) to printed wiring boards or multi-chip module substrates visited the Peoples Republic of China September 29-October 13, 2000. The purpose of the delegation's visit was to meet with academic, research and industrial laboratories and institutions of the People's Republic of China to learn about the technological developments in electronic packaging and electronic assembly and manufacturing. A series of planned cultural activities was part of the program. The delegation consisted of 13 members from the United States, Germany, Japan and Taiwan.
Chinese Institute of Electronics: On Monday October 2, 2000 we met with Prof. Zong Sha, President of the Chinese Institute of Electronics (CIE), and Dong Yizhong, CIE Deputy President and President of the CPMT Chapter of IEEE in Beijing. After brief introductions were made, Prof. Zong gave us a brief overview of IEEE in China. It was established in 1985 and now has 2,500 members in 8 chapters. The CPMT Society has 30 members. CIE is a national organization comprised of 44 societies similar in many respects to IEEE.
Mr. Dong went on to describe the Electronic Components Society of CIE, which co-sponsors academic meetings with the IEEE CPMT. He gave us a general overview of their organizational structure and activities.
Professor Zong gave an informative summary of the Chinese Information Technology (IT) industry. Internet usage, which only began in 1997, has doubled every 9 months and there were an estimated 16 million users in June 2000. This growth rate is much higher than in many countries, and is expected to continue. Prof. Zong described IT as the "locomotive" of the Chinese economy and the government is investing heavily in technologies to support its infrastructure.
John Stafford then expressed our specific desire to discuss microelectronic packaging and asked what we could do to foster interest in China. Prof. Zong replied that he plans to write a letter to IEEE. Its 2,500 members are a very small percentage of eligible engineers in China. He suggests that the key to increasing membership is to provide internet access to full papers (not only abstracts). Mr. Stafford indicated that this is a goal for CPMT and that an effort is being made to put its database on line for its members.
Mr. Dong gave us an introduction to China's components industry, which is growing 40% annually due to the IT boom. Chip capacitor production is at 73 billion units per year; resistors and potentiometers at 57 billion; inductors at 2.4 billion; oscillators at 1.1 billion; hybrid circuitry about 67 million pieces/year and connectors at 4.6 billion per year. Mr. Dong predicted that by the end of 2000, the expected annual need for components would be 200 billion, while domestic capacity could produce, at most, 160 billion parts.
To help address the shortfall in domestic component supply, the Chinese government has established professional research institutes to foster growth. The government's involvement in directing this academic group's R&D efforts is declining; they sponsor only specific projects. Emphasis is shifting to encourage greater cooperation with industry and more applications-driven research. When John Stafford asked about specific efforts to develop internet-driven optical device packaging capabilities, the response was that the government has initiated an effort to establish an "Optical Valley" in the Wuhan region.
The remainder of the meeting was allocated to detailed questions by delegation members, which were answered by Messrs. Zong and Dong. Mr. Stafford then made a closing statement, thanked the gentlemen for hosting our visit and presented them with a small gift of CD ROMs containing all the CPMT Transactions through 1999.
Semiconductor Research Institute in Beijing: On Monday afternoon October 2, 2000 we met with Professors Yang Hui, Feng Sunglin, Hung Yu Zheng and Liu Zhung-Li and the staff of the Semiconductor Research Institute in Beijing and visited the Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials. There are more than 400 full-time staff in the Institute, including eight members of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and one member of Chinese Academy of Engineering. The Institute is accredited by the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council to award doctoral degrees in sciences and engineering. In addition, postgraduate degree programs are also offered, which are designed as an enhancement and extension of the doctoral degrees. The main fields of investigation covered in the institute are: physics of low-dimensional semiconductor structure, material growth technologies of compound semiconductors and ultra thin film, neutral computer, microelectronic technologies and the research, development as well as middle-scale production of communication optoelectronic device and integral technology, etc. The Institute is well equipped with advanced equipment of analysis and characterization, ultra thin film growth MBE, MOCVD and semiconductor device fabrications. The Institute has a large library in the semiconductor area with more than 100,000 volumes.
The Institute's ongoing work in optoelectronics were discussed.
The research fields discussed were:
· Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser and its integration
with other optoelectronic devices, microactivity devices and physics
· Si-based material optoelectronics, including Si-based
photodetector, Si waveguide optical multiplexer and demultiplexer,
Si-based optical switching, and the characteristics of photo emission
in Si-based material.
· Nonlinear optical characteristics of quantum well material
and application for optical bistable and light modulators
· Novel optoelectronic devices and materials, such as infrared
cascade quantum well laser and the growth of GaN on different
substrate
· Characterization and analysis of semiconductor optoelectronic
devices and related device CAD
It was noted that the Institute reported on the first blue Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) at a recent conference in Nagoya, Japan and are working on edge emitting blue lasers.
Discussions also centered on packaging of optoelectronic devices. A new thrust area is being undertaken in the area of low cost hermetic packaging of optoelectronic devices.
Our hosts noted that Wuhan has been designated as an optical center for the build up of an optoelectronic foundry capability.
We also discussed the Institute's work on silicon carbide for RF transistors. One of the goals of the Institute is to break out institute start-ups as commercial ventures. The Institute is looking for potential industry partners.
After the discussions, a tour of the optoelectronics R&D laboratory was given.
At the end of the meeting, John Stafford made a closing statement and thanked our hosts and presented them with a small gift of CD ROMs containing all the CPMT Transactions through 1999.
Tsinghua University oin Beijing
On Tuesday October 3, 2000 we met with Professors Jia Song-Liang,
Qi Jiayue, Gu Yuqin and Ma Jusheng and the staff of Tsinghua University
in Beijing.
Tsinghua University, Institute of Microelectronics has 113 facility members of which 19 are professors. They manage about 417 students (280 undergraduates, 50 Ph.D. and 87 masters). The University is considered the M.I.T. of the Peoples Republic of China (P.R.C.).
The P.R.C. established the Northern Microelectronics Research and Development of China. The Institute of Microelectronics Tsinghua University (IMETU) is one of the main members of this center. Other main members of the center are The Institute of Microelectronics of Peking University, The Microelectronics R&D Center and The Institute of Semiconductor, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
A 1~1.5mm level VLSI Pilot Line was established in IMETU in 1989. There is about a 1,000 square meter clean room in it. The line is to be upgraded to 0.6~0.8mm feature size VLSI Pilot Line in the near future. The Pilot Line has established a complete set of sub-micron VLSI processing facilities.
Process technology is CMOS, including N-well CMOS. P-well CMOS, quasi Double-well CMOS, single Poly, double Poly, single metal, double metal, EEPROM and Flash Technology, etc. This Pilot Line is open nationwide and will be "the Multiproject Wafer Supporting Center". Through introducing advanced IC technology from abroad, new technology and products will be studied and developed here. The Pilot Line will be a platform for R&D and for transformation of scientific achievements to universities, institutes and companies all over the country.
The Electronic System Integration and ASIC Technology Research Center is one of research platforms of Tsinghua University. "The Information Science and Technology Research Group" was established and put into operation in 1997. With IMETU as its research base, the group has floor space of 700 square meters. It offers a complete and advanced hardware and software environment for design, simulation and validation of processing and IC design. This open center supports research on electronics systems, design of ASIC system integration and manufacturing of IC, developing joint research projects and expending close relation and tight cooperation outside China. It is also an education base for high quality scientists and engineers. The center will promote inter-discipline research between information science and other sciences. Its laboratories will reach the level of a First Class University.
Research center of Micro/Nano technology has been set up at IMETU with funding from Ministry of Education, 211 Grant. It is a base for design, fabrication and testing of Micro/Nano technology, which is the first established in China. With its 1mm IC processing line and a set of three-dimensional silicon micron mechanical equipment, it can provide lab services for research and fabrication of MEMS chips. High level MEMS devices and technology have been developed in the lab. Many excellent papers have been published in domestic and international key journals.
A biochip research and fabrication base has been established at IMETU. The center has participants from microelectronics, precision instrument and biotechnology fields. The biochips under development include DNA chips, protein chips, and cell chips for diagnostic use and for drug discovery.
A lengthy discussion ensued on the research efforts on MEMS and biochip technology being developed at IMETU. Some of the interesting developments were a micro hot plate for biochip applications, thermally activated microbumps, micro motors with closed loop control, micro microphones, MEMS for RF applications, etc.
Professor Gu discussed his work in micro thermal measurements, which was quite impressive.
Professor Ma discussed the development of low cost IC nickel/gold bumps for driver attach to LCDs using ACF. Professor Ma also discussed her work with low temperature cofired ceramic technology for packages and substrates.
We visited the Pilot line, which was started in 1989 and rebuilt in 1999. It is a multiproject wafer support center. They have design capability using all CAD programs. Device research division works on MEMs and Biochips.
Northeast Facility has about 100 workstations, steppers, dry etching equipment and ion implant equipment.
Designs are mostly memory and processors in IC, sensors and actuators in MEMS. They are also working on chemical detectors. Research includes device physics, deep submicron SOI and smart sensor area. Research on SiGe and Bi CMOS is also being undertaken. Charter includes tech transfer, direct industry contract phototypes and staff exchange.
At the end of the meeting, John Stafford thanked the hosts and gave them a small gift set of CD ROMS of the IEEE Transactions.
The evening of October 3, 2000 we hosted a Beijing Duck dinner for our Tsinghua University hosts at the Quanjude Restaurant in Beijing. A very pleasant and intersting social time was had by all. It was a memorable evening.
While in Beijing we also met with Capital Steel/Shougang NEC Electronics Co.
South East University in Nanjing: On Saturday October 7, 2000 we met with Professors Zhi-Gong Wang, Quing-An Huang, Ning Gu, Nongyue He and Zuhong Lu of the South East University In Nanjing.
Southeast University is an influential institute of higher learning. Southeast University (formerly Nanjing Institute of Electronics) is nearly 100 years old. The major emphasis lies in engineering. Apart from its departments of science, engineering, arts, management and medicine, the University boasts the key branches of learning like Civil Engineering. Electronic Information, Computer Science, Material Science and Engineering, Thermal Power Engineering and Transportation Engineering, as well as a series of borderline subjects with high technology as the core, such as Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Electronics and Electronic Commerce. The University, with a full range of strong academic discipline, comprises a Graduate School, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science, Adult Education School, Vocational Education School, Medical College, College of Civil Engineering, College of Transportation Engineering, College of Economics and Management, College of Distance Teaching and a hospital attached to the Medical College. It has 42 undergraduate disciplines, and offers 92 master's programs, 41 Ph.D.. programs and owns 9 post doctoral research laboratories. The total number of faculty and staff is over 7,000, of which 400 professors, 940 associate professors, 160 doctoral advisors, 7 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
We met with the faculty of the RF and OEIC Institute, the Microelectronics Institute and the Department of Biomolecular Electronics.
Professor Wang led the discussions for the Southeast University. He is the founder and director of the Institute of RF & OEICs, the "Yifu - Science & Tech - Center" of Southeast University. The Institute was established on October 1, 1997 and is supported by the University and by the "211 - Project" of the Ministry of Education of China.
Discussions focused on research areas at the University. The research areas at the University include MEMS packaging opto-electronics IC design, nano materials, biochips, high frequency RI IC design and high speed socket design for fiber optics connection.
Possible methods of collaboration can be setting up a training center at the University to train local students technology in Electronic Packaging, guest lecture.
In the area of nano material and structure, the University has capability to build small structure molecular assembly, but would like to get assistance in lithography equipment to build devices.
A laboratory tour followed at the end of the discussion.
After the tour, we thanked our hosts and presented them with a small gift of CD ROMs containing all the CPMT Transactions through 1999.
On Monday October 9, 2000 we met with representatives of the Emerson Electric Copeland Division in Suzhou and toured their plant.
Fudan University in Shanghai: On Wednesday October 11, 2000 we met with Professors Tang Ting-Ao and Yu Huihua of Fudan University in Shanghai.
Fudan University is one of the best universities in China. The University has 36 departments and 46 institutes covering humanity, social, political, natural sciences and medical science.
Electrical Engineering department includes 3 institutes: Microelectronics, Circuits Design & System and Biomedical Engineering and has over 100 faculty members, 600 undergraduates, 200 master candidates and 100 Ph.D. candidates. The annual research budget is RMB 10,000,000 with half from government and half from industry.
Current research topics at the Microelectronics Institute
are:
· SOI
· Ferro Ele. Thin Film Used in Non-volatile Memory (Design
& Modeling) Ferro Ele. Capacitors and Non-Volatile Logic Circuits
· Functional Material Deposition/Optical Filter Application/SRP
Tech.
· ASIC Design for Auto Industry
· Interconnect for VLSI
· New Metalization Process
· Thin Film Micro Structure
· Interface Between Semiconductors
· Semiconductor Device Modeling & Simulation
· Physics
· CAD
· MEMS
· System Applications
· CMOS Yield Analysis
In IC Design & CAD Lab
· VLSI Layout Touting CAD Tool Exportation. Sub-micron
Low Power Application. FPGA Dicing.
In ASIC & System Lab (Sponsored by Department
of Education)
· VLSI ALG
· Analog & Digital Circuits & Hybrid Circuits
· ASIC Design & Testing
· IC Design & Testing
· Sub-Deep Micron Data Base
· SOC
· IP LIB
John Stafford made a short closing statement and thanked the hosts. He gave them a small gift of a a CD ROM set of all the Transactions of the CPMT.
Shanghai Feilo Co. Ltd.: On Wednesday afternoon October 11, 2000 we met with representatives of the Shanghai Feilo Co. Ltd. Feilo manufactures electronic components and systems for telecommunications. Some of the components they make are capacitors, optical connectors and hybrid thick film circuits.Discussion ensued on Feilo's use of thick film circuits for Chinese wireless handset manufacturers and about Feilo's contract assembly capabilities. Feilo has a joint venture making smart cards and smart card readers.
On Thursday October 12 The Delegation attended the China International Electronics Component Expo being held in Shanghai. This was a four-day event, including technical sessions. At the event, over 200 Chinese domestic and overseas companies displayed their latest electronic components and production equipment, including complete production lines. The Chinese molding equipment manufacturing equipment was of a high quality and at a most reasonable price.
Extra Pictures
IEEE Delegation on the way to visit the Ming Tomb Nanjing
John and Betty Stafford at the Yangstze River Bridge
