UTAC Selects X-Wire Technology for Volume Production

SINGAPORE & TOKYO & TORONTO--(Business Wire)--
United Test and Assembly Center (UTAC), Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K. and Microbonds
Inc. (all privately held companies) are pleased to announce that UTAC has
selected Tanaka X-Wire insulated wire bonding technology for volume production
to enable advanced IC package assembly and material cost savings.

The continuous pace of advances in IC designs is pushing the limits of current
packaging technologies as the industry continues to decrease geometries and
costs while increasing functionality and interconnect densities. UTAC is an
industry leader in successfully developing and implementing advanced IC assembly
technologies, such as wire bonding, which features semiconductor chips
inter-connected together in close proximity by ultra fine diameter
interconnection wires. With traditional assembly technology, there is a risk
that interconnection wires can touch and electrically cause a short circuit as
more wires are incorporated into smaller geometries. However, using Tanaka
X-Wire insulated bonding wires allows UTAC to connect more complex chips in
dense arrangements using more flexible wiring routing than previous design rules
permitted.

The breakthrough comes from a nano-scale insulation coating that is applied to
bare bonding wires, called X-Wire technology, invented by Microbonds Inc
(Toronto, Canada). UTAC performed extensive testing on devices assembled using
20um and 25um X-Wire gold based bonding wires produced by Tanaka Denshi Kogyo
K.K. (Saga, Japan) who is a volume production licensee of the X-Wire Technology.
The X-Wire devices passed key JEDEC packaging reliability test standards, as
well as specific customer electrical performance test criteria and manufacturing
capability tests.

"X-Wire allows us to leverage on existing production applications by reducing
the gold wire diameter without the risk of short circuits. The flexibility
provided by insulated bonding wire enables us to shorten the new package design
cycle and assemble complex devices which couldn`t be considered before. X-Wire
fits into the existing assembly infrastructure, requiring no capital cost
outlay, which is an important economic factor for us", said Ms Regina Liew,
Group Vice President for Supply Chain Management.

About United Test and Assembly Corporation

United Test & Assembly Center Ltd ("UTAC") is a leading independent provider of
test and assembly services for a wide range of semiconductor devices that
includes memory, mixed signal/RF and logic integrated circuits. UTAC offers full
turnkey services from wafer sort / laser repair, assembly, test, burn-in,
mark-scan-pack, and drop shipment. As value-added services, UTAC also offers
services such as package design and simulation, test solutions development and
device characterization, failure analysis, and full reliability tests. The
company's manufacturing facilities are fully certified under international
standards such as ISO9001, ISO14001, TS16949 quality systems. For more
information, see: http://www.utacgroup.com

About Tanaka

Tanaka Kikinzoku is a global provider of precious metal materials, such as
bonding wires and targets that support the production of semiconductor devices
from wafer to assembly processing. Based in Tokyo, Japan, the company has been
in business for over 100 years. Its products play a vital role in the industrial
fields, such as energy conservation, environmental control, health care,
electric and electronics, automobile, telecommunication and semiconductors. For
more information, please visit: http://www.tanaka-precious.com

About Microbonds Inc.

Microbonds Inc. is a pioneer in the development of insulated bonding wire
technology for semiconductor packaging and devices. Founded in 1999, the
company's approach is proven through testing with major IC companies and
alliances with the industry supply chain. For more information, see:
http://www.microbonds.com

X-Wire and X-Wire Technology are trademarks of Microbonds, Inc.

For More Information on This Press Release:
UTAC:
UTAC Group Corporate Communications:
Ms Josephine Lim, 65 64810033
media@utacgroup.com
or
Tanaka:
Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K.
Mr. Takeshi Inaba, +81-3-6311-5588
t-inaba@ml.tanaka.co.jp
or
Microbonds:
Microbonds
Mr. William Crockett, +1-408-504-4971
bcrockett@microbonds.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009