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Semiconductor History | MGC Katsushika — Resin Replaces Ceramic Under the Chip
· 1976
Personal memoryBy kevin · · Report an issue
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Semiconductor History | MGC Katsushika — Resin Replaces Ceramic Under the Chip
kevin
1976
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In 1976, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical developed BT resin, short for bismaleimide-triazine resin. The thermosetting material combined heat resistance, electrical insulation, and processability in a form that could be laminated with glass cloth and copper. In 1985, a BT laminate was adopted for a semiconductor package, opening a path away from expensive ceramic substrates.
The substrate under a packaged chip looks passive, but it must carry fine wiring, survive soldering heat, remain dimensionally stable, and manage the mismatch between silicon, copper, and the circuit board. BT material let package makers build thinner, lighter, and more economical structures while retaining properties suitable for increasingly dense interconnections.
The good was leverage. A chemical formulation invented in Japan became infrastructure beneath many processors and memory devices, supporting ball-grid arrays and other high-density packages. It helped move packaging from a protective shell toward an engineered electrical platform. MGC could also build a long materials business around accumulated resin synthesis, laminate know-how, and customer qualification rather than competing in chip design itself.
The bad is that “plastic instead of ceramic” does not remove trade-offs. Thermoset laminates are difficult to recycle, and their production uses energy, solvents, glass fiber, copper, and tightly controlled curing. Moisture absorption, warpage, thermal expansion, and adhesion can become failure mechanisms as packages grow larger and thinner. Qualification is slow, while demand and pricing still follow semiconductor cycles and the bargaining power of a concentrated packaging supply chain.
The pin marks MGC’s current Tokyo Research Laboratory inside Tokyo Techno Park, whose stated research themes include electronic and next-generation materials. The cover, photographed in 2007, shows the actual Katsushika campus when its sign identified the Tokyo Development Center; it does not depict the 1976 laboratory bench or a BT production line.
Sources: Mitsubishi Gas Chemical BT-material technology history; MGC Electronics Materials Business briefing; MGC Tokyo Research Laboratory directory and Tokyo Techno Park reporting.
Photo: “Mitsubishi gas chemical (Tokyo techno center),” Mayuno, CC BY-SA 3.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mitsubishi_gas_chemical(Tokyo_techno_center).JPG
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