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(May 12, 2008) TOKYO — Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. (SMM) is preparing for full-scale production of chip-on-film (COF) boards made using a new method that can accommodate a wiring pitch as narrow as 20 µm. The decision to boost production capacity in COF aims to respond to today's increasingly higher-definition LCD televisions, SMM reports.
Sumitomo Metal Mining has been making COF boards at two factories in Japan since fall 2007 at a combined rate of around 5 million units a month. This fall, production also will begin at a joint venture (JV) in Taiwan, Sumiko Electronics Taiwan Co., Ltd. (SET), set up by the company's subsidiary Sumitomo Metal Mining Package Materials Co. and a local firm. COF boards are thin, flexible PWBs. COF substrates serve as mounting bases for connecting liquid-crystal driver ICs and LCD panels. The double-layer structure of copper wiring on resin film is supplied mainly to chipmakers in Taiwan.
The Taiwan JV will make the COF boards at a rate of 10 million units a month using the new method in which the copper wiring is plated instead of etched. With etching, the wires can be set no closer than 30 µm apart; with plating, the pitch can be as narrow as 20 µm. The production technique is known as the "semi-additive process."
Sumitomo Metal Mining plans to transfer the production lines from its two factories in Japan to Taiwan in this fiscal year and make the COF boards there at a rate of 15 million units a month. The total investment outlay is slated to reach ¥3.6 billion ($34.7 million U.S.).
For more information, visit www.smm.co.jp/E.
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