News Article
Wafer bonder bonanza
AML announces the companies biggest sales deal
Applied Microengineering (AML), suppliers of wafer bonding machines and bonding services, has announced that orders for its in-situ Aligned Wafer Bonding (AWB) machines have been made this year with a market leading mobile phone component manufacturer, commercial organisations and renowned academic institutions. The most significant AWB order in AML’s history has been placed by a market-leading organisation in Taiwan, to deliver high-volume production wafer level packaging technology utilised by the global mobile phone market.
“The company previously tried a machine from one of our competitors, but it was failing to meet the stringent specifications and throughput that were required,” explains CEO of AML, Rob Santilli. “We demonstrated that our AWB’s could combine the highest levels of alignment accuracy and high throughput, 8” wafer level adhesive bonding for this high-volume production requirement, so crucial to this market. The new function provided by this technology is mind blowing and everyone with a mobile phone will want it! ”
Santilli adds: “Today, AML has a unique capability in this area and an advantage others cannot compete with in the large and growing market application of high accuracy, adhesive bonding, with both thermal and the first ever aligned, UV cure option system planned for this July, that will deliver even faster throughput.”
AML have also enjoyed success with Endress & Hauser. The leading supplier of measuring instruments and automation solutions, based in Germany, has chosen AML, purchasing a custom-made AWB that includes a specially designed blue chassis to parallel the company’s corporate image. Santilli continues: “AML was able to build a production machine that satisfied the customer’s specific needs, even down to the colour.”
For commercial organisations the AML in-situ concept is now widely accepted as the way to unblock the wafer bonding jam, or production bottleneck and improve throughput. Furthermore, world leading academic institutions, The Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, (the third Fraunhofer to go with AML) Universities of Helsinki in Finland, Changsha in China and Sydney in Australia have all invested in AWB machines from AML in 2009 to improve the quality of their research and development facilities.
Santilli comments on the reasons for AML’s early success in 2009: “AML is no longer prepared to sit in the shadows of over hyped competitors, who had failed to recognise the potential of AML’s in-situ platform. We have listened to the market and it is telling us that it prefers this approach.” He continues: “In the past if we lost sales it was because our competitors were much better known and not because their machines were any better. Many engineers would specify an AWB but the purchasing department would be more familiar with our competitors. However, the tide has changed and with the further addition of automated wafer handling, utilising Brooks automated robots, later this year AML is now fast becoming the first choice for development and production.”
Designed and manufactured in the UK by AML, AWB machines deliver a low cost per bon. With the capability for surface activation, precision alignment and wafer bonding all in a single chamber and within a controlled environment, this reduces wafer handling and clean room footprint, while providing a smooth transfer of technology to volume production.
The innovative wafer clamping and contacting mechanisms for the AWB prevent any wafer movement during the alignment and bonding process ensuring guaranteed alignment accuracy. Where material properties allow, the alignment can be performed at high temperature hence removing thermal expansion effects that can otherwise degrade the alignment accuracy. In addition the in-situ system enables true independent control of the upper and lower wafer temperatures which can be exploited to enable better and more specific control during aligned bonding – e.g. when there is a need to activate a getter on one wafer whilst maintaining a lower temperature to protect sensitive structures on the other wafer”. The separation of the wafers during pump down and heating stages results in the best machine for vacuum encapsulation and surface conditioning.
The AWB delivers one micron accuracy, a temperature of up to 560˚C, and fast bonding cycle times. The alignment, activation (via unique RAD system) and bonding are performed in-situ in a high vacuum chamber. The wafers are loaded cold and heated in the process chamber. This arrangement has an advantage over other bonders where alignment is carried out outside the bonder as the user can make adjustments to the aligned wafers at any point before finally committing to making the bond.
“The company previously tried a machine from one of our competitors, but it was failing to meet the stringent specifications and throughput that were required,” explains CEO of AML, Rob Santilli. “We demonstrated that our AWB’s could combine the highest levels of alignment accuracy and high throughput, 8” wafer level adhesive bonding for this high-volume production requirement, so crucial to this market. The new function provided by this technology is mind blowing and everyone with a mobile phone will want it! ”
Santilli adds: “Today, AML has a unique capability in this area and an advantage others cannot compete with in the large and growing market application of high accuracy, adhesive bonding, with both thermal and the first ever aligned, UV cure option system planned for this July, that will deliver even faster throughput.”
AML have also enjoyed success with Endress & Hauser. The leading supplier of measuring instruments and automation solutions, based in Germany, has chosen AML, purchasing a custom-made AWB that includes a specially designed blue chassis to parallel the company’s corporate image. Santilli continues: “AML was able to build a production machine that satisfied the customer’s specific needs, even down to the colour.”
For commercial organisations the AML in-situ concept is now widely accepted as the way to unblock the wafer bonding jam, or production bottleneck and improve throughput. Furthermore, world leading academic institutions, The Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, (the third Fraunhofer to go with AML) Universities of Helsinki in Finland, Changsha in China and Sydney in Australia have all invested in AWB machines from AML in 2009 to improve the quality of their research and development facilities.
Santilli comments on the reasons for AML’s early success in 2009: “AML is no longer prepared to sit in the shadows of over hyped competitors, who had failed to recognise the potential of AML’s in-situ platform. We have listened to the market and it is telling us that it prefers this approach.” He continues: “In the past if we lost sales it was because our competitors were much better known and not because their machines were any better. Many engineers would specify an AWB but the purchasing department would be more familiar with our competitors. However, the tide has changed and with the further addition of automated wafer handling, utilising Brooks automated robots, later this year AML is now fast becoming the first choice for development and production.”
Designed and manufactured in the UK by AML, AWB machines deliver a low cost per bon. With the capability for surface activation, precision alignment and wafer bonding all in a single chamber and within a controlled environment, this reduces wafer handling and clean room footprint, while providing a smooth transfer of technology to volume production.
The innovative wafer clamping and contacting mechanisms for the AWB prevent any wafer movement during the alignment and bonding process ensuring guaranteed alignment accuracy. Where material properties allow, the alignment can be performed at high temperature hence removing thermal expansion effects that can otherwise degrade the alignment accuracy. In addition the in-situ system enables true independent control of the upper and lower wafer temperatures which can be exploited to enable better and more specific control during aligned bonding – e.g. when there is a need to activate a getter on one wafer whilst maintaining a lower temperature to protect sensitive structures on the other wafer”. The separation of the wafers during pump down and heating stages results in the best machine for vacuum encapsulation and surface conditioning.
The AWB delivers one micron accuracy, a temperature of up to 560˚C, and fast bonding cycle times. The alignment, activation (via unique RAD system) and bonding are performed in-situ in a high vacuum chamber. The wafers are loaded cold and heated in the process chamber. This arrangement has an advantage over other bonders where alignment is carried out outside the bonder as the user can make adjustments to the aligned wafers at any point before finally committing to making the bond.
