The widespread acceptance of wireless communication devices in recent years has led to a boom for manufacturers of III-V Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMICs). As a result, these device fabricators have needed to adopt a significant amount of technology from leading silicon device makers in order to provide timely responses to the large demand for […]
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Electroplating is a general name for processes that create a metal coating on a solid substrate through the reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct electric current. The part to be coated acts as the cathode (negative electrode) of an electrolytic cell; the electrolyte is a solution of a salt of
A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor. Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transport the fluid through a pipe. As gases are compressible, the compressor also reduces the volume of a gas. Liquids are relatively incompressible; while some can
Hardness is a measure of the resistance to localized plastic deformation induced by either mechanical indentation. In general, different materials differ in their Hardness,Macroscopic hardness is generally characterized by strong intermolecular bonds. Hardness is dependent on ductility, elastic stiffness, plasticity, strain, strength, toughness, viscoelasticity, and viscosity. There are 3 main types of Hardness measurements: Scratch
A tube furnace is an electric heating device used to conduct syntheses and purification of inorganic compounds and occasionally in organic synthesis. Its design consists of a cylindrical cavity surrounded by heating coils that are embedded in a thermally insulating matrix, Temperature can be controlled by feedback from thermocouples. Tube furnace two or more heating zones useful for transport experiments, It can
There are literally hundreds of solder alloys available from very low melting points from 38°C to extremely high brazing melting points to over 1000°C. Yet, there is one alloy in particular that stands out and is most commonly used by the majority of users for die attach and lid seal applications. This alloy is gold-tin
Why Gold – Tin is the best Solder Alloy Read More »
Plasma Ashing Process In semiconductor manufacturing plasma ashing is the process of removing the photoresist (light-sensitive coating) from a wafer. Using a plasma source, a monatomic (single atom) substance known as a reactive species is generated. Oxygen or fluorine is the most common reactive species. The reactive species combines with the photoresist to form ash
Today, in the majority of high production soldering of electronic component applications, belt furnaces are used. The typical length of a belt furnace exceeds 20 feet. Some of these high volume production processes require <200 ppm oxygen level, a nitrogen flush (to achieve such a low ppm oxygen level) and constant “power on” that keeps
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The reason that I chose to discuss wire bond pull testing after examining shear testing is that, in concurrence with the development process of a wire bond, we perform pull testing only after shear testing has been performed. The destructive pull test is explicitly what it sounds like. A wire bond loop is pulled until
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a) Advantages – Prevents wire shorts and enables cross bonding. – Uses existing platforms and lowest-cost packaging infrastructure (wire bonding). – Is suitable for multi-row, ultra fine pitch and area array wire bonding. – Is suitable for systems in package, stacked dies and side-by-side chip-to chip bonding. – Enables flexible routing, simplified substrate and packaging of
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