Indium Blog

Thermocompression Bonding for Microbump Flip-Chip Soldering

For reasons that I will discuss in a post later this year, a common factor that is emerging in the area of copper-pillar microbump 2.5D and 3D joining, is the adoption of thermocompression (TC) bonding for flip-chip flux/microbump soldering. TC bonding is now being predominantly adopted instead of reflow. Some of you may have the same response as I got at iMAPS 2011 from one well-known expert in packaging technology. He looked askance at me when I mentioned TC bonding for flip-chip and retorted: “That’s for bonding wafers, not soldering flip-chips!”. Even good old Wikipedia (at time of writing) seems to have the same problem – basically that the industry usage of the term has moved into the packaging arena.

I spent a little time talking to people in the industry, and on Google, putting together a buyer’s guide for those of you looking at who-is-doing-what in TC bonding. This is just a prototype guide and necessarily incomplete – if I have missed your company out then I apologize, and will add it in: just give me all the details!

Equipment Type Company Name URL Bonding tools What else they make
Die-bonders ASM (PT) http://www.asmpacific.com/asmpt
/index.htm
Die bonders, flip-chip bonders Various others
Die-bonders BESi http://besi.com/  Die and flip-chip bonders (Datacon) Meco (plating systems), Fico (molding / trimming), ESEC
Die-bonders FineTech http://www.finetech.de/  Die bonders, flip-chip bonders (offline) SMT/BGA rework, Laser bar-bonder, VCSEL, Photodiodes, Chip-on-glass, RFID
Die-bonders Hybond http://www.hybond.com/  Eutectic die bonders (offline/manual) Wirebonders / Peg and bar lead diode bonders
Die-bonders Newport http://www.newport.com/ Die bonders Optical and alignment instrumentation, spectrometers
Die-bonders Palomar http://palomartechnologies.com/  Die bonders Ballbonders, stud bumpers, manual die bonders
Die-bonders Panasonic http://www.panasonicfa.com/?id=MD-P200  Die bonders Wirebonders etc etc
Die-bonders SET http://www.set-sas.fr/en/  Die bonders, flip-chip bonders Large device bonders and nano-imprint
Die-bonders Shibaura http://www.shibaura.co.jp/e/products/  Die bonders, flip-chip bonders FEOL products (etching, stripping, coating, jetting) and BEOL
Die-bonders Toray http://www.toray-eng.com/sitemap/index.html#semicon  Die bonders, flip-chip bonders [Semi]Inspection, exposure, encapsulation. COG / COF / FOG bonders
Die-bonders Westbond http://westbond.com/machines.htm  Die bonders (offline/manual) Wirebonders
         
Wafer bonders EV Group http://www.evgroup.com/en  Wafer bonders Lithography tools
Wafer bonders Suss Microtech http://www.suss.com/  Wafer bonders Mask aligners, nanoimprinters, photomasks, lithography tools

Thanks to Brian Schmaltz of Namics kk for one extra addition to the list. 

Cheers! Andy