MacDermid Alpha Highlights Innovation Amid Increasing Focus on Materials Performance

The semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industry is entering a period where materials performance is becoming increasingly critical to overall system reliability, thermal efficiency, and manufacturability.

As devices become smaller, more power-dense, and thermally demanding, electronics manufacturers are facing mounting pressure to improve yield, reduce process variability, and support increasingly complex packaging architectures. These shifts are being accelerated by the rapid growth in AI infrastructure, widening adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), increasing focus on renewable energy systems and sustainability, the shift to advanced semiconductor packaging, and increasing build-out of hyperscale data centers.

Against this backdrop, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions, the electronics business of Element Solutions Inc, is the strategic materials and process solutions partner for semiconductor packaging, power electronics, and electronics assembly manufacturers across Asia.

Victor Aquino, senior director for strategic accounts (APAC) at MacDermid Alpha, said the challenges facing electronics manufacturers today are fundamentally different from previous generations of manufacturing complexity.

Based in Singapore, Victor Aquino brings more than 25 years of experience across electronics materials, semiconductor assembly, process engineering, applications, sales, and global key account management. In his role at MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions, he works closely with electronics manufacturers across Asia, helping customers address technical challenges, support regional growth, and move new technologies from development into high-volume production. 

“Devices now are becoming technologically more complex. Smaller form factors, higher density, higher thermal requirements, and advanced packaging architectures have made materials performance much more critical,” Aquino said in an interview with EE Times Asia on the sidelines of SEMICON Southeast Asia 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“Applications such as AI infrastructure, EVs, renewable energy systems, industrial automation, data centers, and advanced semiconductor packaging are significantly raising technical requirements. These are not incremental improvements anymore. They represent a completely different category of manufacturing challenge.”

Materials becoming performance-critical

According to Aquino, materials such as die attach, solder, flux, thermal interface materials, and underfills are no longer viewed simply as consumables within the manufacturing process.

Instead, they have become performance-critical variables directly affecting thermal resistance, long-term reliability, manufacturability, and product lifetime.

“As devices become smaller, hotter, and more power-dense, the materials inside them carry more responsibility,” Aquino said. “When performance budgets become tighter, material decisions directly impact product lifetime, device stability, manufacturing yield, customer satisfaction, and long-term reliability.”

At the same time, manufacturers are facing increasing pressure to improve first-pass yield, minimize process variation, reduce defects and rework, and scale advanced manufacturing consistently across multiple production sites.

Defects such as bridging, poor wetting, solder balling, inconsistent hole fill, and voiding have become more difficult to manage as board-level assemblies continue increasing in density and complexity.

“The industry is now expecting materials to work harder, run cooler, and last longer,” Aquino said.

Supporting advanced manufacturing transitions

MacDermid Alpha supplies specialty materials and process solutions across semiconductor packaging, semiconductor assembly, PCB fabrication and assembly, wafer-level packaging, power electronics, and thermal management applications.

The company supports applications across automotive electronics, consumer electronics, telecommunications, AI infrastructure, industrial systems, and renewable energy markets.

Aquino said MacDermid Alpha’s role extends beyond supplying individual materials.

“We are not just providing materials, but solutions,” he said.

The company supports customers across multiple stages of the electronics manufacturing process, from wafer-level packaging through semiconductor assembly and board-level assembly to thermal management and reliability optimization.

One key initiative is the company’s integrated solutions approach called Reliance, which combines different material systems and process combinations validated through laboratory testing using representative customer modules and applications.

MacDermid Alpha uses laboratory evaluation data collected across multiple material combinations and process conditions to help customers better evaluate manufacturability, process stability, and qualification readiness.

“The objective is not simply to provide materials, but to help customers achieve stable, scalable, high-performance manufacturing,” Aquino said.

, For example, its ATROX conductive die attach materials target semiconductor packaging, power electronics, and thermally demanding connecting applications.

Aquino also highlighted PFAS-free capability as another growing area of customer focus as manufacturers prepare for evolving regulatory requirements and sustainability expectations for their connecting materials.

One example is the ATROX® CD 560-1 conductive die attach material, which combines PFAS-free capability with copper filler technology addressing silver price volatility, long-term cost stability and sustainability concerns.

MacDermid Alpha also offers Argomax® pastes and AccuLam™ films designed to improve thermal conductivity, bond line control, electrical performance, manufacturability, and long-term reliability.

“These technologies are increasingly important for GaN and SiC adoption in automotive inverters, EV power systems, RF amplifiers, and industrial power applications,” Aquino said.

Advanced soldering and reliability focus

As thermal demands and assembly densities continue increasing, soldering performance is becoming another major focus area.

MacDermid Alpha’s ALPHA WS, Advanced Flux Technologies, and Kester® solutions are designed to help manufacturers reduce soldering-related defects while improving first-pass yield and solder joint reliability.

According to Aquino, these technologies can help customers optimize package design and, in certain applications, reduce dependency on additional reinforcement materials.

Meanwhile, its ALPHA® TrueHeight® solder preforms provide an alternative attach solution for applications that may not require full silver sintering capability while still maintaining strong reliability performance for connecting materials.

Manufacturing scale-up and regional support

Aquino said one of MacDermid Alpha’s differentiators is its ability to support customers beyond material qualification and into manufacturing implementation and production scale-up.

The company combines global formulation expertise with regional applications laboratories, process engineering support, manufacturing guidance, and qualification assistance.

“We have established applications labs in three major locations, enabling customers to come to us with their designs and modules, test them in our labs, and develop both material and process solutions,” Aquino said. “This helps customers fast-track their development.”

MacDermid Alpha also has a global manufacturing footprint of more than 25 facilities worldwide, enabling regional production flexibility and supply continuity.

According to Aquino, this has become increasingly important as semiconductor manufacturers continue diversifying supply chains and expanding operations into Southeast Asia and India.

“The semiconductor industry is undergoing significant supply chain restructuring,” he said. “Manufacturers are no longer relying on single-country manufacturing concentration models.”

Instead, companies are building multi-country manufacturing networks, regional redundancy strategies, and diversified sourcing structures to improve resilience against geopolitical and supply chain risks.

Southeast Asia  is becoming increasingly important as investments accelerate across semiconductor assembly, advanced packaging, power electronics, automotive electronics, and AI infrastructure manufacturing.

MacDermid Alpha’s Singapore manufacturing operations continue supporting regional demand across Southeast Asia, while the company’s standardized quality systems help maintain manufacturing consistency across multiple locations.

“As customers expand manufacturing across different geographies, we can support consistent supply through our regional facilities.” 

Expanding R&D and semiconductor packaging capabilities

To support growing semiconductor demand, MacDermid Alpha continues investing in thermal management technologies, semiconductor packaging materials, PFAS-free systems, and advanced conductive attach technologies.

Recent developments include the expansion of silver sintering production capacity in Singapore and increased investments in regional R&D infrastructure, including a new research and development facility in India.

The company is also expanding its semiconductor packaging portfolio to support applications across AI infrastructure, EVs, data centers, power electronics, and advanced packaging architectures.

“The long-term outlook for the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industry remains strong, driven by expanding AI infrastructure, increasing EV adoption, renewable energy deployments, data center growth, industrial automation, rising demand for advanced packaging, and ongoing semiconductor regionalization,” Aquino said.

“MacDermid Alpha continues advancing its technology roadmap across several strategic areas, including advanced connecting materials including sintering technologies, PFAS-free material systems, copper-enhanced die attach technologies, thermal management innovations, materials for advanced packaging architectures, and high-reliability soldering technologies,” he added. “The company is also developing solutions that support wider adoption of GaN and SiC devices, alongside materials designed for AI infrastructure and high-power computing systems.”

As semiconductor devices continue moving toward higher power density, smaller form factors, more complex packaging architectures, and stricter reliability expectations, Aquino said materials innovation will remain central to enabling next-generation electronics manufacturing.

ASEAN remains a strategic growth region

MacDermid Alpha views Southeast Asia as a strategic growth region within the global electronics and semiconductor manufacturing landscape, particularly as the industry shifts toward AI-driven infrastructure, advanced packaging, electrification, and high-performance computing applications.

The company is focused on enabling customers to accelerate the transition toward higher-value manufacturing, more advanced and performance-intensive applications, improved production reliability, and stronger supply chain resilience.

“We support these goals through our portfolio of advanced materials, close technical collaboration with customers, regional engineering and manufacturing support, deep process expertise, and global technology capabilities,” Aquino said.

“The electronics industry is entering a performance-driven era. Materials are becoming increasingly critical to reliability, thermal management, and manufacturability. Our role is to help customers move from materials decisions to manufacturing confidence.”