Fraunhofer IZM’s Michael Töpper has received an award for Best Paper at the 2010 Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC). His paper “Novel multi-layer wiring buildup using electrochemical pattern replication (ECPR)” was written together with Mikael Fredenberg and Patrik Möller from Replisaurus Technologies. The development of the ECPR technology started at the Lund Institute of Technology in 2001, based on new ideas for nanoscale electrodeposition of metal patterns. In 2002 the first proof-of-concept was achieved and the development of processes and equipment was continued. The company Replisaurus Technologies was founded by Mikael Fredenberg and Patrik Möller and in the beginning of 2003 Replisaurus moved to Kista, Stockholm. Through strategic alliances with equipment suppliers, institutes like the Fraunhofer IZM (Berlin) since 2006 and semiconductor manufacturers the development and evaluation of industrial automated production solutions are ongoing. Using ECPR, the accuracy of metallization for microelectronic applications can be increased at the same time as the cost can be significantly reduced compared to using traditional lithography based processes. Replisaurus offers complete production solutions including master electrodes, fully integrated ECPR tools, chemicals and processing guidelines. The cooperation with Fraunhofer IZM guarantees the link to the newest trends in electronic packaging. This fruitful cooperation was honoured this year by the ECTC “Best Paper of Conference” award.

Dr. Michael Töpper holds a PhD in material science from the Technical University of Berlin and heads a Fraunhofer IZM research group specializing in wafer-level processes. Since 2006 he has also served as a Research Associate Professor at the University of Utah. He has authored and co-authored more than 130 papers on electronic packaging, is a co-founder of the SECAP International Consortium for Advanced Packaging, and is currently chairing the IEEE Technical Committee of Wafer Level Packaging.

ECTC is the leading annual conference on international packaging, components, and microelectronic systems. This year’s ECTC, which marked its sixtieth anniversary, was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA from June 1-June 4. Michael Toepper was on hand at the awards ceremony and to present his latest research on polymer-based packages and glass-based interposers together with Fraunhofer IZM colleagues.