News & Analysis
Firm sees liquid crystal polymer in packaging
Mark LaPedus
11/4/2003 1:00 PM EST
To propel the development of its technology, Quantum Leap has received $3.5 million in Series A financing from Battery Ventures. As part of the investment, Battery Venture's Morgan Jones has joined the company's board.
Quantum Leap will use the investment to support its product development and business initiatives, said Mike Zimmerman, a 15-year veteran of Bell Laboratories, who is the founder and chief technology officer of the company. The Wilmington-based company was founded in January of 2003.
The company's technology is said to replace expensive ceramic and metal packaging materials and provides significant advantages in thermal and electrical performance. Quantum Leap's packaging solutions are designed for high-growth applications, including RF transistors, image sensors, vision packages, MEMs devices, semiconductors and fiber optic modules.
The startup claims to be the world's first company to deploy liquid crystal polymer in production for chip-packaging applications. "It's been tried before, but the technology has been difficult," Zimmerman said.
The company's technology is "100 percent crystal in solid and liquid form," he said. As a result, it has better electrical performances and tighter tolerances than traditional ceramic and metal materials, he told Silicon Strategies.
"The assembly and packaging of components has become a key element of the manufacturing process," he said. "Manufacturers are not only seeking more efficient packages that can perform the traditional functions of the package--protecting, powering, and interconnecting--but want them at a lower cost and comparable or better performance."
Its technology does not require new backend equipment. Quantum Leap is qualifying its technology with customers. Product shipments will begin "sometime next year," he added.
