IMEC REPORTS ULTRA-THIN CHIP EMBEDDING FOR WEARABLE ELECTRONICS

LEUVEN, BELGIUM – March 10, 2009 – At today’s Smart Systems Integration
Conference in Brussels (Belgium), technologists from IMEC and its
associated laboratory at Ghent University presented a new 3D integration
process enabling flexible electronic systems with a thickness of less than
60 micrometer. The ultra-thin chip package (UTCP) technology allows the
integration of complete systems in a conventional low-cost flex substrate.
This paves the way to low-cost, unobtrusive wearable electronics such as
wearable health and comfort monitoring.

For integration, the chip is first thinned down to 25 microns and embedded
in a flexible ultra-thin chip package. Next, the package is embedded in a
standard double-layer flex printed circuit board (PCB) using standard flex
PCB production techniques. After embedding, other components can be mounted
above and below the embedded chip, leading to a high-density integration.

The integration process uses UTCP interposers which solve the “Known Good
Die” issue by enabling easy testing of the packaged thin dies before
embedding. Expensive high-density flexible substrates can be avoided by the
fan-out UTCP technology which relaxes the interconnection pitch from 100µm
or lower to 300µm or more, compatible with standard flex substrates.

IMEC demonstrated the integration technology with a prototype flexible
wireless monitor that measures the heart rate (electrocardiogram, or ECG)
and muscle activity (electromyogram, or EMG). The system consists of an
embedded ultra-thin chip for the microcontroller and analog-to-digital
convertor, an ultra-low power biopotential amplifier chip and a radio
transceiver. By thinning down the chips for UTCP embedding, they become
mechanically flexible resulting in an increased flexibility of the complete
system, making it unobtrusive and comfortable to wear.

This news release and picture can be downloaded at:
http://www2.imec.be/imec_com/imec-reports-ultra-thin-chip-embedding-for-wea
rable-electronics.php?year=2009&month=03

About IMEC
IMEC is a world-leading independent research center in nanoelectronics and
nanotechnology. IMEC vzw is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, has a sister
company in the Netherlands, IMEC-NL, offices in the US, China and Taiwan,
and representatives in Japan. Its staff of more than 1650 people includes
about 600 industrial residents and guest researchers. In 2008, its revenue
(P&L) was estimated to EUR 264 million.
IMEC’s More Moore research aims at semiconductor scaling towards sub-32nm
nodes. With its More than Moore research, IMEC looks into technologies for
nomadic embedded systems, wireless autonomous transducer solutions,
biomedical electronics, photovoltaics, organic electronics and GaN power
electronics.

IMEC’s research bridges the gap between fundamental research at
universities and technology development in industry. Its unique balance of
processing and system know-how, intellectual property portfolio,
state-of-the-art infrastructure and its strong network worldwide position
IMEC as a key partner for shaping technologies for future systems. Further
information on IMEC can be found at www.imec.be.

Contacts:
Katrien Marent, Director of External Communications IMEC,
katrien.marent {at} imec(.)be, T: +32 16 28 18 80, M: +32 474 30 28 66.

Barbara Kalkis, Maestro Marketing & PR, kkalkis {at} compuserve(.)com, T: +1 408
996 9975, M: +1 408 529 4210.