Postdoctoral Fellow-Temporary Bonding and Debonding Processes for Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging

Université de Sherbrooke; Canada; On-site; CAD 50,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research university in Canada seeks a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to develop new temporary bonding and debonding processes for microelectronic packaging. The role involves literature reviews, material selection, and collaboration with IBM engineers. Candidates should possess a PhD, experience in microfabrication, and proficiency in English or French. This position is located at the Université de Sherbrooke and offers an opportunity to contribute to innovative advancements in technology.

Qualifications

• Experience in microfabrication in a clean room.
• Excellent design and experimental work in a clean room environment.
• Research experience of 1–4 years.

Responsibilities

• Conduct a literature review of methods for TBD process.
• Select candidates of commercially available release tape.
• Develop the temporary bonding and debonding process route.
• Perform morphological & mechanical characterizations.
• Validate the integrity of the TBD process after interconnection.

Skills

Communication in English or French

Teamwork

Adaptability

Education

PhD in micro-nanotechnology, microelectronic packaging or nanomaterials

Tools

Microfabrication tools

Job description

Interdisciplinary Institute for Technological Innovation (3IT)

Offer Description

Context: With the continued advancement in assembly and packaging technologies such as innovative FOWLP platforms/concepts, brought by high demand for more functionality, increased I/O count, smaller/thinner form and cost reduction, temporary bonding & debonding technology (TBD) has been further developed to address new process challenges. In this regard, temporary carrier technology transcends its traditional function of providing thinned wafer handling solutions: it becomes a key element in enabling functional diversification through heterogeneous integration in the FOWLP concept. The core of the temporary carrier support system is the selection of TBD materials and the carrier. Typically, a dedicated release tape is used to fix the dies onto a temporary carrier during molding & redistribution line (RDL) processes. Challenges include coating uniformity, appropriate mechanical properties (Tg, CTE, thermal stability) and chemical resistance. These materials must also demonstrate good adhesion to the epoxy mold compound (EMC) and RDL dielectric layer yet successfully debond without damaging the FOWLP package. Thus, we propose this project to develop temporary bonding/debonding process required for FOWLP flow’s steps.

Topic: We are looking for a well‑qualified and highly motivated student to develop new TBD processes for FOWLP to integrate heterogeneous active chips (HBM, ASIC) and passive interconnect/thermal chips using a molding approach. The successful candidate will oversee (i) conducting a literature review of methods and materials used for TBD process to understand their properties and associated challenges, (ii) selecting 2–3 candidates of commercially available release tape, (iii) developing the complete temporary bonding and debonding process route, (iv) performing complete morphological & mechanical characterizations of the temporary release carrier to determine the quality and performance of the TBD process. Integrity validations of TBD process after the interconnection of molded chips will be targeted, considering EMC surface roughness, planarization and carrier warpage requirements. These evaluations will be performed in close collaboration with IBM engineers.

Work Supervision: This Postdoc project will be realized under the co‑direction of Pr. Dominique Drouin and Pr. Serge Ecoffey, as part of the IBM/NSERC Alliance Project on Multi‑Chip Heterogeneous Integration for High Performance Computing. The work will be done mainly at the Interdisciplinary Institute for Technological Innovation (3IT) at the Université de Sherbrooke and at the MiQro Innovation Collaborative Center (C2MI) in Bromont.

Responsibilities

• Conduct a literature review of methods and materials used for TBD process to understand their properties and associated challenges.
• Select 2–3 candidates of commercially available release tape.
• Develop the complete temporary bonding and debonding process route.
• Perform complete morphological & mechanical characterizations of the temporary release carrier to determine the quality and performance of the TBD process.
• Validate the integrity of the TBD process after interconnection of molded chips, considering EMC surface roughness, planarization and carrier warpage requirements.

Requirements

• PhD in micro‑nanotechnology, microelectronic packaging or nanomaterials.
• Experience in microfabrication in a clean room.
• Knowledge in advanced microelectronic packaging.
• Ability to communicate in English or French both orally and in writing.
• Strong ability to adapt, be autonomous and work in a team.
• Excellent design, experimental work in a clean room, research and development proficiency.
• Language proficiency: French – Good; English – Good.
• Research experience: 1–4 years.

Where to apply

E‑mail [e-mail]

Work Location

Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boul. de l’Université Geofield, 1500, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada (J1K 2R1)