Boise, Idaho-based Micron Technology Corp is these days moving way beyond its original role as nothing more than a stack ’em high, sell ’em cheap memory chip fabricator, triumphing over the perceived disadvantage of living in a potato field in unfashionable Idaho, and these days has many strings to its bow. In the company’s latest initiative, its Micron Semiconductor Inc arm has licensed its KGDplus silicon insert contact technology, a method of providing fully tested, burned-in unpackaged semiconductor die, to a number of companies over the last few weeks. First up is an agreement with nCHIP Inc of Milpitas, California; nCHIP plans to use the technology to manufacture and market silicon contact inserts. The next agreement is with Cybex Technologies Corp of Richardson, Texas. The Texan company will use Micron’s know-how in manufacturing loading and unloading equipment for high-volume production of fully-tested and burned-in unpackaged semiconductor die. Micron and Cybex have worked closely in the joint development of a fully automated loader-unloader system, which provides assembly and disassembly functions in the high-volume production of known-good die.
