The most advanced makers of semiconductor packages use plasma to improve yield and reliability, especially when using advanced materials and package sizes decrease.
Chip manufacturers rely on plasma processes to improve numerous semiconductor applications.
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Cleaning Processes
A key application of atmospheric argon plasma is surface cleaning. It removes organic and inorganic contaminants while leaving the surface topology unchanged.
Clean surfaces will increase yield and reduce the need for costly rework or scrap. There is a new game changing plasma from Surfx Technologies which provides all the benefits of vacuum plasma but out in open atmospheric conditions! This new technology effectively removes contaminants through surface chemistry reactions while protecting sensitive components such as bare wafers, die, and bond sites.
Flip Chip Cleaning
Atomflotm plasma technology from Surfx removes oxides from copper, tin, and indium micro-bump arrays without flux chemicals— enabling smaller pitch, a necessity in todays heterogeneous packaging market.
Surfx Technologies’ Atomflotm plasma reduces metal oxide using chemistry alone leaving a pristine surface ready for thermocompression bonding or hybrid bonding.
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Wire Bonding Preparation
Removing thin oxide layers and organic contaminants from bond pads before wire bonding will reduce bond failures and enhance yield. Plasma cleaning before wire bonding can also increase bond pull strength.
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Activating Processes
Another popular plasma application is surface activation, where chip makers use plasma to boost the surface energy of a material, increasing wetting and adhesion. Improved wetting is particularly helpful during spin coating and ultrasonic coating. Enhanced wetting and adhesion improves the final product’s quality and long term durability.
Underfill Preparation
Semiconductor packaging underfill reduces the impact of the global thermal expansion mismatch between the substrate and silicon chip. Surfaces beneath flip chips, chip-scale packages, and ball grid arrays can be activated to improve fillet height, wicking speed, and interface adhesion.
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Hybrid Wafer Bonding Preparation
Hybrid bonding is transforming semiconductor manufacturing. It stacks chips vertically without bumps so the bottom and top wafer sit flush against each other.
Surfaces must remain clean and smooth for a high-quality bond. Atomflotm plasma will activate glass wafers without adding particles or increasing roughness.
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Molding Preparation
Epoxy protects semiconductors and helps prevent field failures. Activating lead frames and packages before molding enhances the adhesion of mold compounds resulting in better resistance to moisture ingress, and other forms of field failure.
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Advanced Plasma Processing by Surfx Technologies
Surfx Technologies offers turn-key automated plasma systems with improved process control for high-volume semiconductor manufacturing. Where vacuum plasma processes parts in batches, the systems from Surfx Technologies facilitate part processing in a continuous line.
The STA-10iL automated system from Surfx Technologies is ideal for semiconductor processing. It can clean and activate substrates for enhanced adhesion and is suitable for high-volume applications.
Surfx Technologies also offers the STW-10 automated system, which is ideally suited to front-end semiconductor processing. This system works well for activating surfaces before hybrid wafer bonding. Ask about their newest solutions for thermocompression and hybrid bonding prep by visiting their website.
https://www.surfxtechnologies.com/
This information has been sourced, reviewed, and adapted from materials provided by Surfx Technologies, LLC.
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