STS licenses IBM column attach tools and technology to meet needs of high-reliability applications

MILPITAS, Calif., 6 Feb. 2014. Silicon Turnkey Solutions (STS), a provider of single-source engineering and design-to-product-enablement solutions, has acquired a technology license, patent license, and tool purchase agreement for manufacturing and rework rights to the IBM Column Grid Array (CGA) column attach process.

“The column attach (CA) is a specialized final assembly process vital to the high-reliability (also known as high-rel or high-rely) component needs of our customers in the aerospace & defense marketplace,” explains Marti McCurdy, vice president of Silicon 360, a division of STS. "STS is committed to provide the column attach services following identical processes, materials, and workmanship standards as customers have been accustomed to historically from IBM." The CA line will extend the availability of this process and technology well into the future providing a solution to the "critical" process pioneered by IBM, and removing any DMS concern for our National Defense Sector, she adds.

“The technology license is an essential part of our integrated turnkey solutions to aerospace and defense industry customers,” says Zef Malik, CEO of STS. “This, in conjunction to our recent acquisition of a contract and electronic manufacturing company, places us in a very unique position to provide total enablement capabilities of assembly, column attach, board-level assembly manufacturing, and component- and system-level solutions.”

Silicon Turnkey Solutions (STS) in Milpitas, Calif., offers single-source, wafer-level to complete turnkey assembly engineering solutions and delivers high-density integration SOC and SIP solutions designed into ASICs, Hybrids, MCMs, and FPGAs. STS also integrates design migration, engineering, manufacturing, test, and qualification processes with operational expertise to provide technology and services to enable semiconductor customers to meet time-to-market pressure, cost, and technical challenges in today’s defense, aerospace, consumer, and green markets. STS is equipped to handle defense and space qualification flows, value-added screening, and support on diminished and obsolete component products.