Alchimer SA, a leading provider of nanometric deposition technologies for advanced 3D packaging, through-silicon vias (TSVs) and other electronic applications, today announced the appointments of Bruno Morel as CEO, and Dr. Frédéric Raynal as CTO and VP of engineering.
Morel, a veteran executive at companies in the semiconductor and renewable-energy sectors, and Raynal, a distinguished researcher entering his tenth year with Alchimer, provide an ideal combination of skills to steer the company’s evolution as a wet-deposition solutions provider. Morel said Alchimer will partner with a variety of semiconductor equipment companies and electronic materials providers to customize Alchimer’s wet deposition process technology and meet the needs of device makers, as the microelectronics industry transitions to450mm wafers and increasingly smaller technology nodes.
Alchimer’s patented processes, including Electrografting (eG), have broad applicability as enablers for portable and high-performance electronics, which are increasingly dependent on advanced packaging and interconnect technologies, including TSVs, dual damascene structures and flexible substrates.
Electrografting, one of the technologies that Raynal has helped develop during his tenure atAlchimer, will be a cornerstone of the strategy, as it enables the growth of extremely high-quality nanometric films at the wafer, device, and circuit board levels, and for MEMS applications.
Morel’s background includes service as president and CEO of Semiconductor Tooling Services (STS), a leading supplier of electrostatic wafer-clamping devices for the chip industry, and, most recently, as vice president of product development at Satcon Technology Inc., a leading solar-inverter supplier. He has also held management positions at Novellus, Lam Research and Applied Materials.
“In my experience, success in the electronics supply chain is directly related to meeting the expectations of the end user,” said Morel. “Those expectations differ from company to company, and I want Alchimer to be known as a flexible, adaptable, collaborative partner that can evolve along with our customers’ technology and process needs.”
Raynal, who joined Alchimer in 2003, is a specialist in electrochemistry and molecular engineering for back end of line (BEOL) copper metallization, 3D-IC metallization, fuel cells, batteries and sensors. As Alchimer’s director of product development, he led efforts to develop new chemistries and process recipes for high-performance deposition technology with substantially lower cost of ownership than traditional dry processes like CVD, PVD, and ALD. He has also held research positions at Electricity of France (EDF), CEA Saclay, and Technicatom, and is inventor or co-inventor on several patents.
Raynal’s publications include a chapter on electrografting for “Electroplating,” a recently published book on new applications of electroplating with contributions from experts around the world: http://www.intechopen.com/books/electroplating.