Upgrades reduce cleaning cycle time, improve efficiency, and increase ease of use
Issaquah, WA - July 18, 2001 - Applied Precision has made upgrades to its microBurst® Contact Resistance Reduction System, resulting in shorter cleaning times and improved cleaning performance in semiconductor fabs using the probe card cleaning system. The resulting reduction in total cleaning time, efficiency improvement and improved ease of use will increase probe card uptime in the fab, keeping their probing process online longer, and ultimately improving the fab's yield.
The upgrades include a faster pump that significantly reduces the time it takes the system to reach a vacuum state; software modifications that provide an improved cleaning pattern; a light tree that enables the operator to monitor the system from across the test floor; and a new emitter head configuration that improves the system's cleaning effectiveness for array sizes up to 4500 mils by 4500 mils.
Applied Precision switched to the larger pump in the microBurst to reduce the system's "pumpdown" time, or the time it takes the system to reach a vacuum state. This change makes the cleaning cycle for arrays sizes less than 2000 mils by 2000 mils more than twice as fast as with the old, smaller pump. By reducing the duration of this stage of the cleaning process from 15 to less than five minutes, the total time involved in cleaning the probe cards is reduced, leading to more uptime in the fab.
"The benefit of the hardware and software upgrades is that they will significantly reduce the amount of time probe cards have to be offline for cleaning, meaning test floors get more use out of their cards and equipment utilization is increased," said Bob Heiligenberg, product line manager of Applied Precision's semiconductor division. "We believe that this improvement to the microBurst will result in measurable gains in fab productivity."
The microBurst system is the first and only non-contact, non-destructive and non-chemical process developed for contact resistance reduction. The microBurst System removes the thin films and particulates on probe cards that create contact resistance. microBurst atomizes a conducting liquid using an electric field at the tip of a capillary, creating microclusters capable of cleaning a probe card without damaging it. The microclusters are then ejected from the capillary in a "hypervelocity" divergent spray. The cleaning process is non-destructive, resulting in no measurable probe tip alignment, planarity, or topography changes.
Applied Precision's microBurst Contact Resistance Reduction System will be on display in Booth 10536 at SEMICON West, San Jose, Calif.
About Applied Precision, Inc.
Applied Precision develops measurement, analysis and process control systems for semiconductor test, assembly and packaging, as well as for biomedical and biotechnology imaging and analysis (especially cell microscopy, genomics and proteomics). Applied Precision's specialized systems are based on precisionwareTM, the company's unique convergence of mechanics, electronics, optics and software. The company has been enabling advancements in the world's core technologies since its inception in 1985. Applied Precision (www.appliedprecision.com) can be reached in the United States at (425) 557-1000 or in the United Kingdom at +44 1672 518350.
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