Kulicke & Soffa sells Eindhoven litho operations to Onto

Kulicke & Soffa is throwing in the towel on back-end lithography. It’s selling the stepper business that grew out of Eindhoven-based Liteq to Onto Innovation of Wilmington, Massachusetts. According to the official reports, Onto is mainly interested in the knowledge and expertise of the Eindhoven litho team. The transfer will give the Americans a bridgehead in the Brainport region. Many engineers in K&S’s litho team have ASML experience or maintain good contacts with the Veldhoven company.

These relationships are of strategic value as back-end packaging processes and front-end chip manufacturing increasingly converge. Knowledge exchange isn’t only in the best interest of Onto but also important for ASML, which must take into account new functions and manufacturing steps in front-end lithography, such as backside power delivery and hybrid bonding. Metrology, inspection and adjustment of imaging processes are crucial to producing complex packaging flawlessly.