This year’s Electronics System Integration Technology Conference (ESTC 2022) brought 350 attendees from 28 countries to the central Romanian city of Sibiu from 13 to 15 September. Among them, our colleague Steffen Bickel, researcher at Fraunhofer IZM-ASSID in Dresden, won the Best Paper Award for his contribution on “Metallurgical Aspects and Joint Properties of Cu-Ni-In-Cu Fine-pitch Interconnects for 3D Integration”. 

In his paper, he investigates the kinetic mechanisms at work during phase formation at the nickel – indium border, a space of only a few micrometers in size that is critical for the creation of electrically and mechanically reliable interconnects. His insights are already being used for the production of intermetallic fine-pitch interconnects that show the potential and the limitations of the nickel barrier.  

The ESTC is acknowledged as an important date in the calendars of researchers and industry representatives interested in the latest developments in packaging and interconnect technology. The biennial conference has been organized by the IEEE Electronics Packaging Society ever since 2006.