Where the Back-end Begins
01/01/2008
From a device manufacturing perspective, where the front-end leaves off and where the back-end begins has become a subjective point of reference; it really depends on the complexity of the device being manufactured. From a capital equipment perspective, it’s all about the technology that goes into a tool so it can optimally perform back-end processes. In this Roadshow, we explored the beginning of the back-end from both perspectives.
FormFactor, supplier of probe cards, believes testing is performed successfully and effectively at the wafer level, known good die (KGD) will end up in packages, saving cost. We toured their facility in Livermore, CA for an inside look at their MEMS spring probe technology.
Watlow develops thermal solutions for semiconductor capital equipment. Heat is important to packaging at all levels. Wafer bonding and die attach almost always require heat, as does wire bonding, solder bump, some adhesive applications, molding and encapsulation, and the list goes on. For testing, such as wafer probe and burn-in, heat doesn’t help build the package, it simulates use. At Watlow’s semiconductor technology design center, we learned how it all begins.
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FormFactor’s team welcomed the Roadshow crew in full-force: (L-R) Manish Gulati; Stefan Zschiegner; Diane Donnelly, national sales manager, Advanced Packaging; Amy Leong, senior director of marketing, FormFactor; David Browne, VP DRAM business management, FormFactor; Meredith Courtemanche, contributing editor; Advanced Packaging; Ed Wilson, Roger Hitchcock, Bruce Bolliger, and Chris Platt, group publisher; Advanced Packaging.
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The Roadshow Crew gathered with Watlow’s team at the entrance to the company’s new semiconductor technology design center. (L-R) Bob Cameron, staff engineer; Bill Jesswein, account manager, Mike Jummati, sales engineer ; Tony Page, semiconductor key accounts manager; Meredith Courtemanche, contributing editor, Advanced Packaging; Michael Klebig, Watlow sales engineer; Chris Platt, group publisher, Advanced Packaging.
FormFactor, Livermore, CA
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Courtemanche points out the Attendee’s Choice Award that FormFactor won at SEMICON West 2007 in “Best Solution to a Problem” for its PH150XP wafer probe card.
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Browne explained the intricacies of FormFactor’s proprietary MEMs spring probes on a wafer-probe card, which can test hundreds of die simultaneously on a wafer prior to dicing.
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While we peered through the window and watched from the safety of the anteroom, Browne explained the probe cards’ MEMS manufacturing steps.
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The Class 100 cleanroom features air exchange passageways like this one for optimum air quality control.
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Polished wafers exit an oxidation furnace at an early stage of the MEMs manufacturing process.
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Technicians inspect the microscopic contacts on the MEMS probe cards in a cleanroom environment using confocal microscopes.
Watlow, Los Gatos, CA
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Klebig explains the process that goes into heating and cooling a test card quickly for IC testing.
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The form factors of Watlow’s heaters displayed here are considerably smaller than conventional heaters used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
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Watlow’s cast aluminum low-leakage current heat or heat/cool chucks are used for wafer probing applications.
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Bob Cameron and Lee Myers, design lab applications engineers, and Ihi Nzeadibe (not pictured) showed us around the development lab.
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Suon Hinh (Sean) assembling silicon rubber heaters in Watlow’s quick-turn prototype shop.
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In the engineering sections, Watlow’s staff tinkers with designs, working out faster, more accurate controls and heaters.
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Gas line heater test setup attached to 300-mm tool in application/test lab.