Low cost high-speed flip chip assembly processing

Flip chip technology offers opportunities for dramatic improvements in high volume consumer electronics products. Keys to unlock these opportunities lie in the development of enabling technologies to reduce cost of manufacture combined with reliability enhancements. A new process technology has been developed and demonstrated for high-speed assembly/placement of singulated bare die in the flip chip (direct chip attach) orientation. Throughputs approaching 25,000 die placements per hour may be realized, depending upon the assembly process and the equipment employed for pick and place. Extremely high repeatability of each die position at the pick point enables `blind-pick´ assembling, with a potential X-Y placement accuracy of ±25 microns and ±1 degree in rotation. Die are packed in a tape and reel format. Quantities of 100,000 or more small die can be contained on a single reel, thereby minimizing downtime for component replenishment. Die sizes from 200 microns to 10 millimeters per side can be handled and presented for pick and place assembly from a `super-intelligent´ bare die dispenser, which is readily adapted to existing fine pitch placement machines. The process features an open architecture to permit inspection and test at die level, after singulation. This paper contains a detailed description of the high-speed transfer process enabled by die carrier tape technology together with illustrations of specific system applications now installed and operating in volume production