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No end of chip miniaturization

The art and expertise behind placing tiny 0201-components
No end of chip miniaturization

It seems only yesterday that first manufacturers placed 0402-chips on their board assemblies – and sometimes to quickly regrett it in face of shortage. Now, the 0201 is slowly on a way to becoming mainstream and, despite the lack of component suppliers, the early adopters are again changing their products.

Hans Hartmann, Panasonic Europe,Hamburg

The PCB assemblers are reliant on expert support to achieve best results. However, it is here that the danger lies. Some vendors claim that their machines are the only ones that can place 0201-components reliably, perhaps just because they have once placed 100,000 on double-sided adhesive tape.
Real professionalism is a completely different matter. For example, three years ago Panasonic launched first products con-taining 0201-components: modules being produced in volume for the mobile telephone industry since autumn of 1997. Moreover, a high-volume-produced module for a DVD player has also been provided with 0201 components. Since the middle of 1999, a digital camcorder (the smallest one) has also been in volumeproduction containing these components. With this wealth of experience from our own production facilities, we have anunparalleled technological lead which draws on over 30 years of placementexperience and a microchip pioneering role.
Since the beginning of the year, another module containing about three times the number of 0201-components has been in large-scale production. Almost 30 million components a month are processed for just this board assembly. These examples show that only machine manufacturers who can actually place 0201-components on a PCB reliably themselves are in a position to perform as expert partners. Asked how many 0201-components they process a month, some placement machine manufacturers have yet been able to claim more than test quantities.
The urge for CSPs
Miniaturization is not limited to passive components alone. Among the active parts, the CSP-type package gains ever more attention. The growth rate is higher than when a great future was predicted for the BGA some years ago. BGA technology has never stood a chance against the excellent mechanical and electrical properties of CSP-type (chip-scale package), which continues to consolidate marketposition.
The advantage of CSP technology is laid open by defect rates. While QFPs remain at 30 to 80dpm (defects per million), CSP is achieving excellent values of between 0.05 and 0.5dpm. However, the ability to process these components reliably requires a very accurate image of their leads by the vision system of a placement system. The lighting unit of the camera has to supply very good contrast. The lead or bump side of many types of CSP no longer provides a background that is sufficiently uniform to allow clear images. Tracks or other reflective areas which can often be recognized are leading to confusion. The answer is a fully programmable lighting system . Even better and less prone to interference is the Panasonic 3D system which acquires a height profile of the lead side. This helps to achieve consistently reliable and extremely precise placement with the lowest possible defect rate. The resultant low reject rate and higher throughput means higher productivity and yield.
Lead-free technology
The requirements on camera systems will continue to increase in the next years, because the components have to also follow the general trend towards lead-free technology. (The European WEE directive will exclude lead from electronic products by January 2004, and in Japan there is an initiative to succeed two years earlier.) Pre-tinned leads are completely creating other reflection patterns that render a good many conventional camera systems unusable. Panasonic has considerable process knowledge relating to this issue, as we launched a MD player a year ago thatwas the first of four products whosentire manufacturing process is free from lead.
C4 technology
The only choice for products to be miniaturized beyond what can be achieved with 0201s and CSPs is the placement of unpackaged ICs or bare dies together with the tiny chips. If bare dies are set directly on the PCB with bumps (leads) downwards, they are socalled flip chips. As soon as the lead pitch drops below 150m, a very clean, dust-free environment becomes necessary for processing these components. A temporary solution for pitches of over 150µm could be provided by the C4 (controlled-colapsed chip connecti process, which initially was presented by IBM about 35 years ago, and which uses unpacked ICs with solder bumps on their flipped lead side.
SMD placement machines with a slightly extended multifunctionality feature can be used for the processing of dies (or dice). Placement of unpacked ICs requires an accurately applied pressure to be ramped up and down to ensure the bumps touch the substrate evenly. To assist ion making reliable connections in the standard reflow process, the component is dipped in flux beforehand.
What do these very miniaturized components mean for the placement machine industry? At least there is an increasing demand for securely controlled machines that canrespond to changing spectra of components. Here, Panasonic’s as-surance is based on year-long ex-perience and long-term partnerships established throughout the world, with reliability given top priority. That is one ofthe main reasons why we probably have the largest base of machines installedglobally.
Flexibility of top priority
The trend presented by the 0201-components shows that flexibility is of high importance. For example, what should we do about those specialized placement heads on offer that can only process a small part of the full range of components properly, and merely fudge the rest? Even convertible systems cannot be described as flexible. Which production facility can fully anticipate manufacturing trends in the near future? Frequent changing of placement heads – if possible at all – is not acceptable.
As the requirements change over time, a truly flexible machine must remain capable of processing a very wide variety of components, without the need for special placement heads. Moderate machine and space costs have to be sufficient for average production throughput. An individual machine should therefore be capable of placing a wide range of components from 0201s up to QFPs with 55 x 55mm. Placement machine manufacturers prefer avoiding the discussion of the component height, nevertheless it is absolutely vital. It should be possible to process components of up to 25mm in height (including CSPs, connectors and flip-chips) with the same machine.
The number of component feeders that can be set up is directly dependent on the board and a company’s production policy. Even if at present another setup is used on a machine for each product, this does not necessarily mean that the eqipment should not offer an adequate number of feeder stations. The reason that a standard setup is not used for production is often simply a lack of space. However, the basic requirement here should be the processing of components from tray pallets. It is not acceptable that a pallet unit is to be included at the expense of the maximum number of tape feeders. The possibility of using bulk and surf tape feeders should already be seen as a standard requirement.
The length of a machine often plays a significant role if space is at a premium. Although space expenditure only approach 0.1% of the total product costs, the productivity per unit area of footprint should be examined more closely if expansion of the shop floor is not planned or not possible. In this case, over 8000 components/hour per square meter should be achieved.
Longevityand reliability
These two requirements often appear to be overlooked by placement machine suppliers in their breathtaking claims regarding value for money. An investment can only turn a profit if the machine achieves a long service life without wear boosting service costs. The minimal downtime required over this period for a positive financial result is achieved through a wealth of expertise and sophisticated design concepts.
Reliability defined as a MTBF (mean time between failure) of up to 5000 hours isanother point in favour of Panasonic.And there must be a quick supply ofspare parts if problems nevertheless arise on occasion. Panasonic’s 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week service, with 95% initial availability throughout its worldwide network ensures immediate response and excellent provision. This is the way to engender trust and confidence.
A top solution
Just imagine a production capacity of 40,000 components/hour in a machine length of less than 2m, and the components are to range from 0201 to QFP of 55 x 55mm, and include heights of 25mm, CSPs and connectors up to 150mm long. For this demanding task, the brand new Panasert MSF is the solution. Whereas other vendors have to offer at least two single machines, the MSF is currently the only placement machine less than 2m long that can achieve high throughput with such an extensive range of components. Panasonic’s rugged, reliable, top-quality construction guarantes a long service life. Faster retooling and a more reliable production process increase the edge on the competition. These impressive performance figures can be boosted if required. When a throughput of, for example, 80,000cph over the same device range is needed, two Panasert MSFs can be combined over a length of less than 3.5m. And extending this arrangement with a tray-pallet feeder for each machine makes available, in just 4m, a very high number of 384 stations for tape feeders, plus 96 tray pallets. And all this with a spectra of components mentioned, moreover from tapes, sticks, tray pallets or in bulk. The MSF will set a standard in manufacturing high quantities of quality products. Panasonic is continuing to extend its technological lead with this machine.
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EPP 173
Zusammenfassung
Die Bestückung der winzigen 0201-Komponenten stellt höchste Anforderungen an das Equipment und den Prozeß. Vom Maschinenhersteller wird vomAnwender für die zuverlässige Montage in hochvolumigen Elektronikfertigungen hohe Kompetenz verlangt. Dafür sind langjährige und eigene Produktionserfahrung nicht nur sehr hilfreich sondern eine Grundbe-dingung.
Résumé
L’équipement des minuscules composants 0201 est très exigeant pour le processus et pour le matériel. L’utilisateur attend du constructeur de machines une grande compétence pour un montage fiable dans la fabrication électronique en volumes importants. Une longue expérience de la production est non seulement utile mais absolument indispensable.
Sommario
L’equipaggiamento e il montaggio dei piccolissimicomponenti 0201 pone massimi requisiti sia ai macchinari che al processo. I costruttori delle macchine richiedono da parte dell’utilizzatore un’alta competenza in materia di affidabilità di montaggio nell’ambito di produzioni di componenti di elettronica ad alto volume. A tale scopo il possesso di una propria esperienza produttiva multiennale non è solo di grande aiuto ma è una prerogativa essenziale.
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