At the International Microwave Symposium (IMS) this past June in Boston, MA, details were published on Freescale's validation and qualification of Quantum Leap Packaging's (QLP's) materials and packaging technology. Compared to ceramic-based packages, the Quantech material technology can reportedly be used to provide a lower-cost and very reliable air-cavity packaging solution for the semiconductor industry. QLP claims that the resulting HermeTech package was the semiconductor packaging industry's first true plastic hermetic package. Going forward, QLP's technology will be more widely commercialized, as the company has just been acquired by Interplex Industries.
According to Mali Mahalingam, Manager of Packaging Operations at Freescale's RF Division, "Freescale is pleased that Interplex and QLP have joined forces to continue the development and commercialization of this technology. To the best of our knowledge, QLP offers the only polymer technology capable of passing the rigorous reliability testing of hermetic ceramic package applications for base stations." Interplex will integrate QLP's packaging technology into its Interplex Engineered Products (IEP) facility in East Providence, RI and eventually expand it globally as required by the market. The technology's new name will be Interplex QLP (iQLP).