Asahi Kasei has combined its liquid photosensitive polyimide and dry film photoresist technologies into a new photosensitive film for panel-level semiconductor packaging, now under customer evaluation.
Product Development
The new film integrates properties from Asahi Kasei’s PIMEL™ liquid PSPI—used for buffer coatings and passivation layers—with its SUNFORT™ dry film photoresist, designed for temporary lithographic circuit patterning on substrates and wafers. This hybrid material enables uniform lamination onto large square panels, improving throughput and consistency in advanced packaging manufacturing. The film also supports an increased number of insulating layers, addressing the growing complexity of redistribution layers and package substrate insulation.
Technical Capabilities
When paired with the SUNFORT™ TA series, which can form 1.0 μm-wide circuits, the PSPI film allows simultaneous formation of fine circuit patterns and insulating resin layers via lamination. Asahi Kasei is also developing solutions combining the film with the SUNFORT™ CX series, enabling high-aspect-ratio copper pillars essential for three-dimensional semiconductor packaging architectures.
Market Context
Electronics is a First Priority business in Asahi Kasei’s medium-term management plan, Trailblaze Together. Demand for advanced packaging materials is accelerating as AI data centers drive higher chip density, larger interposers, and finer wiring patterns. The industry’s shift from wafer-level to panel-level packaging, along with increasing three-dimensional integration, raises performance requirements for insulating and patterning materials.
Strategic Implications
Nobuko Uetake, Senior Executive Officer overseeing Asahi Kasei’s Electronic Materials MBU, noted that improving AI semiconductor performance demands mounting technologies covering larger areas with higher precision. The new PSPI film aims to improve customer yield and productivity while supporting the continued evolution of advanced packaging.
Outlook
As panel-level packaging gains momentum for next-generation processes, Asahi Kasei’s combined PSPI film addresses critical productivity and precision gaps. Commercial availability is expected soon, positioning the material to play a key role in enabling higher-density, multi-layer, and 3D packaging required by AI and data center applications.
