Tessera and NDSU Partner for Chip Manufacturing, Research

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 19 -- Tessera Technologies Inc., a provider of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry, announced that it has completed a successful chip-scale packaging (CSP) technology transfer to North Dakota State University (NDSU) and has partnered with NDSU in the development of a microelectronics center at the university. The company says the announcement marks the culmination of a joint effort by Tessera and NDSU to create a regional microelectronics center supporting the manufacturing needs of government agencies while facilitating the growth of technology companies.

As part of a multiyear government program sponsored by the US Department of Defense's Defense Microelectronics Activity (DoD-DMEA), Tessera has licensed its MicroBGA CSP technology to NDSU and has provided the university with the technical knowledge and training necessary to package and assemble semiconductor chips, such as EEPROM, DRAM and Flash memory. These semiconductor devices are used in defense, medical, wireless, consumer and computing electronics appplications.

The Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering at NDSU conducts electronic miniaturization research and fabrication for microsensors and nanotechnology using traditional semiconductor processes. Its Class 100 cleanrooms include an Alien Technology Corp. NanoBlock fabrication line; its Class 10,000 cleanrooms house a chip-scale packaging fabrication line. NDSU is currently in the process of fabricating chip-scale packaged devices to be used in the DoD-DMEA's Chameleon program, which aims to develop wireless, low-observable surveillance sensors combined with a high-sensitivity base station receiver to provide a method of collecting more accurate intelligence information.

For more information, visit: www.tessera.com