Kyocera receives BSFZ seal for the development of a new high-end ceramic

High level of research and development work

The seal is awarded to companies that can demonstrate outstanding entrepreneurial innovation expertise as well as in-house research and development work, among other things. By receiving the award, Kyocera is demonstrating its activities as a driver of innovation at its research site in Germany.

Technical ceramics for the semiconductor industry

The production of AI chips and components for fifth-generation electronic devices, such as 5G smartphones, is subject to the highest quality standards. Testing the proper functioning of these high-end microchips is a correspondingly complex process. Kyocera has therefore continued to refine its innovative high-end ceramics and launched a new silicon nitride for functional testing of next-generation microchips.

Before the chips are further separated, they are tested on a silicon wafer. What are known as "probe cards" guide up to 100,000 fine contact needles and more to the contacts of the microchips, making it possible to test their functionality. A silicon nitride plate is used to guide and insulate the contact pins from each other. This fixes the needles at regular intervals of a few tens of micrometres.

Trademark: high temperature resistance and flexural strength

Silicon nitride has proven to be the key material here: it is able to keep these small distances absolutely constant even over the extreme temperature range of minus 40 to plus 200 °C (degrees Celsius) at which the tests are carried out. The new silicon nitride also has a high flexural strength of > 800 MPa (megapascals). This allows the production of thin silicon nitride plates with very narrow distances between the contact needles. This video provides an insight into Kyocera's technical ceramics, their uses and their properties.

Dr Krishna Uibel, Director Innovations at Kyocera, emphasises: "We are very proud to have been awarded the BSFZ seal once again, as the seal underlines the innovative drive and philosophy of our company. Thanks to continuous further development, we are able to work with our customers to develop customised materials and solutions for their individual needs. We use state-of-the-art production processes to achieve this." He adds: "In the future, semiconductors will continue to be important for the industry. This is why we are constantly refining our technical ceramics in order to be able to offer our customers the best product solutions."

About the BSFZ

The Certification Body for Research Grants (Bescheinigungsstelle Forschungszulage, BSFZ), which operates under the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, awards the seal to companies that achieve special technological results through their research and development activities, as a result of which they are eligible for funding. It primarily focuses on investing in the R&D sector and endeavours to strengthen Germany’s role as a leading business hub.