Industry experts around the world have come to view 3-D chips as a key enabler to continued performance improvements and market growth for the semiconductor industry. The challenges inherent in continued scaling in
2-D are simply too daunting and only offer incremental improvements in performance, and at higher cost. 3-D integration and packaging represents a paradigm shift for industry. It opens up entirely new pathways for advancement and offers new prospects for exponential growth in the semiconductor industry. The equipment market alone is anticipated to exceed $1 billion within the next few years. No doubt there are many challenges remaining though, before widescale implementation occurs. Those industry players, however, who understand these challenges, and offer new solutions, will reap the rewards over the coming decade. In fact the growth path offered by moving into the third dimension for semiconductor devices and systems may offer new opportunity for many years to come.