Andover, United Kingdom – First there were light-cured adhesives, then light-activated adhesives, and now we have dual-cured adhesives. Eamonn Redmond, Director of Inseto, provides an overview of all three.
Image courtesy of DELO.
First there were light-cured adhesives, then light-activated adhesives, and now we have dual-cure adhesives. Eamonn Redmond, Director of Inseto, provides an overview of all three.
Though what we’re about to discuss has been the subject of articles before, it’s always worth having a refresher. Also, while many of the overarching principles of bonding have not changed over the years, adhesive chemistries have – which means things like open times (see later) have increased.
‘UV adhesives’ is the generic term used when referring to an adhesive that requires high-intensity light for curing. A significant proportion of these adhesives actually uses light in the visible spectrum for curing. Indeed, it is typically the visible component of the photoinitiator that is used to achieve the cure. This is useful when bonding polycarbonate, for example, as most grades of this material block UV light.
Regardless of where on the spectrum the photoinitiator lies, the simple fact is that one of the parts being bonded must be transparent to allow for 100% cure of the adhesive (see figure 1). No one likes having uncured adhesive in their products on a long-term basis, especially as a number of these adhesives are based on acrylic acid, which is rendered harmless by curing but is hazardous in its liquid state.
Figure 1 – Light curing requires one of the substrates to be transparent. (Image courtesy of DELO.)
When bonding components together, it is essential that the whole volume of the adhesive is fully cured, as uncured adhesive in the finished assembly may cause corrosion or, in the case of optical products, interfere with the light path. However, achieving full cure can be a problem due to shadow areas that light cannot reach.
In this respect, dual cure adhesives can help and there are many on the market that offer significant advantages over more traditional adhesives without sacrificing reliability, bond strength or ease-of-use. Uses include industrial displays, automotive camera modules, electric motors and even simple applications such as thread-locking. Let’s take a look at the two most popular dual cure methods.
Dual Cure: Light & Humidity
These adhesives are used when temperature-sensitive materials are being joined, but they are limited by the fact that the majority of the adhesive in the bond area must be cured by light and by the fact that the humidity-responsive portion of the adhesive cures at a slow rate (typically about 2mm every 24 hours), which is similar to the rate at which silicone adhesives cure.
They are single-part adhesives and are free of isocyanates (so present no health and safety issues) and are free of silicones too (so no impediment to subsequent adhesive bonding), unlike some acrylates. They are highly flexible, optically clear and offer excellent climatic resistance, whilst also providing excellent bond strength on surfaces such as glass, PMMA, metal pins and most plastics.
Dual Cure: Light & Heat
These are based on two diverse chemistries, epoxies and acrylates.
Epoxies tend to be hard once cured, offering increased resistance to chemical and temperature stresses due to the tight cross-linking of the polymer that occurs during cure.
Acrylates are usually softer adhesives, enabling quicker curing and greater flexibility of the cured adhesive.
Using a combination of heat and light to cure these adhesives offers a very fast fixation by snap-curing the photoinitiator in the adhesive. Subsequent heat curing ensures that there is no uncured adhesive in any shadow zones that might exist in the assembly. This fast fixation also allows increased accuracy, which is especially useful for companies that have invested heavily in high-accuracy placement machines only to see movement of the parts being bonded during the heat-cure stage.
The heat-cured stage generally involves heating the parts up to around 100°C after the light cure process. However, for temperature-sensitive materials such as some plastics, modified epoxy adhesives are available that will cure at 60°C, combining defined processes and short cycle times, despite the low curing temperature of the adhesive.
These are especially useful in applications such as automotive camera modules, or where the end product is subjected to chemical influences that would otherwise harm an acrylate adhesive. These dual-cured epoxies also exhibit very low outgassing and low yellowing, making them ideal for applications with demanding optical requirements, such as LED assembly.
Dual-cured acrylates offer similar advantages to dual-cured epoxies, namely very fast fixing and full cure after subsequent heat curing, but they also exhibit excellent impact resistance and tension-equalising properties due to their flexible nature. These are suitable for applications such as the assembly of rotary encoders, where optional fluorescing and colouring can be added to aid visual inspection.
Light and heat cured adhesives also offer increased flexibility in the manufacturing process. While heat-curing is mandatory for a small number of these adhesives, the majority offer independent curing mechanisms, allowing curing by light, by heat or a combination of the two.
They do not suffer from the same limitations as light and humidity cured adhesives, however, a downside is the minimum cure temperature is a strict 80°C, which means heating the oven to at least 83°C to avoid any potential cold spots. This is strongly recommended because if the adhesive does not reach 80°C its heat-cured portion will never cure, regardless of how long the parts to be bonded remain in the oven. The time to cure at elevated temperatures can also be a factor. For example, curing at an oven temperature of 83°C might take up to one hour, but at 150°C the cure time might be as short as 10 minutes.
Unfortunately, many modern low-cost plastics are heat sensitive and even 80°C might be a problem. Two-part cold-cured adhesives, such as epoxies and polyurethanes, can overcome this issue but the penalty is long curing times.
Light Activation
For applications where the cycle time needs to be short – i.e., to avoid lengthy humidity or heat cure times – this is where light-activated adhesives come into their own.
The process is simple. Dispense the adhesive onto substrate A, illuminate it with high intensity light for a short period of time, and place substrate B onto the adhesive. Both A and B can be non-transparent.
Illuminating the adhesive provides enough energy to trigger the curing process. However, if too much energy is provided, there will not be enough time to place the second substrate before a skin forms on the surface of the adhesive. Once this happens, it is impossible to bond the substrates.
The time it takes for the skin to form on the adhesive is called the open time. It is measured from when the illumination ceases to when the skin forms. Increasing the energy provided to the adhesive, whether by increasing the intensity of the light or by illuminating for longer, reduces the open time.
Unfortunately, the relationship between the activation energy and open time is not linear. Factors such as substrate material, colour, smoothness and reflectivity all have an impact on the open time. The technical datasheet of the adhesive will indicate a range of open times. For example, the technical data sheet for DELO KATIOBOND 4594 states that an open time of 15 to 20 seconds results from an illumination time of 3 seconds when using a DELOLUX LED lamp with a light intensity of 200 mW/cm2, measured at the adhesive.
Changing the lamp, the illumination time or materials will affect the open time, which should be measured. Also, it’s worth noting that if one the materials being bonded is metal, then it will be necessary to heat it up slightly, to say 35°C. This is because the heat generated within the adhesive during the activation process will be conducted away and slow down the reaction significantly. It may even prevent the reaction completely.
Once the substrates have been joined, full cure will take place over time, typically 24 hours. However, we did say above that light-activated adhesives are ideal for shortening the cure time, and they are because the cure process can be accelerated by:
Depending on the geometry of the parts being bonded, additional light curing is possible. For example, if there is a fillet of say 0.5mm of adhesive around the joint, a second light cure process can be carried out immediately after bonding (see figure 2). This increases the bond strength, allowing the assembly to be moved on to the next process.
Alternatively, the assembled parts can be heated (also shown in figure 2). This can seem contradictory as light-activated adhesives are used for the very purpose of eliminating heat from the process. But even the addition of low levels of heat can have a significant effect on the cure speed. As a general rule, for every 10°C increase in cure temperature, the cure time is halved. So, increasing the temperature of the bonded parts to even 45°C (i.e., safe enough even for the modern temperature sensitive materials I mentioned earlier), can reduce the cure time to 6 hours, while ensuring that there is sufficient handling strength in the adhesive to safely carry out the next (assembly) process step.
Figure 2 – Above, an illustration of a camara module being bonded to a substrate. Following activation of the adhesive and placement of the module, further curing can be achieved using light shone through the sides of the fillet or through the application of heat. (Image courtesy of DELO.)
A recent development on the light-activated adhesives front is ‘activation on the flow’, announced by DELO in 2022. The technology combines adhesive dispensing and pre-activation in a single process step and is considered particularly suitable for bonding and encapsulating temperature-sensitive electronic components.
Another benefit of adding irradiating to the dispensing step is that the exposed adhesive areas can be additionally irradiated (as discussed above) and fixed after joining. This provides immediate initial strength, preventing the adhesive from flowing out and the components from slipping, which allows them to be further processed immediately. Whether with or without additional light fixation, the adhesive cures reliably to final strength without any additional process step, even in undercuts and shadowed areas. For further information on this see FAST magazine news from 25th July 2022.
Summary
So, what has this refresher taught us? Traditional light (only) cured adhesives need one of the substrates to be transparent. Light and humidity dual-cure adhesives overcome the problem but take time to cure. Light and temperature dual-cure adhesives take less time to cure but cannot be used with many heat-sensitive materials.
Light activation, the new kid on the block, initiates the curing process (and marks the start of the ‘open time’). Full cure takes time, but the process can be accelerated using light (subject to it being able to penetrate) or heat (subject to the substrates not being heat-sensitive, though lower temperatures can be used compared to light and temperature dual-cure adhesives).
‘UV adhesives’ is the generic term for adhesives that require high-intensity light for curing. For many though, it is light in the visible spectrum that does the curing. (Image courtesy of DELO.)
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This article is featured in Issue 3, 2023 of Fast Magazine and is re-produced here with the kind permission of the publisher.
Inseto is exclusive distributor for DELO‘s range of adhesives throughout the UK and Ireland.
Andover, United Kingdom – Inseto, a leading technical distributor of equipment and materials, has supplied the Institute for Compound Semiconductors with a variety of semiconductor manufacturing equipment for its new 16,150ft2 cleanroom situated adjacent to its Translational Research Hub (TRH).
SUSS MicroTec MA8 Gen4 mask aligner, part of the equipment supplied to the Institute for Compound Semiconductor by Inseto.
The TRH, which opened for business in May 2023, is a 129,000ft2 facility with a mix of flexible laboratory and office space where industry and experts can come together to solve complex global challenges. The ICS’s new 200mm fabrication line is being used by researchers in the ICS and commercial partners to trial, develop and scale up new compound semiconductor devices.
The equipment supplied by Inseto includes an MCS8 manual resist coating system, an MA8 Gen4 mask aligner, SD12 and AD12 wet processing systems, and an HMxSquare 9 photo mask cleaner (all from SUSS MicroTec), a PlasmaEtch PE-75 plasma treatment system and an ADT 7900 wafer dicing saw. In addition, Inseto’s engineering team managed equipment installation and operator training.
Dr Angela Sobiesierski, ICS Operations Director said: “Inseto was able to offer us a range of state-of-the-art equipment that has enabled us to scale up our fabrication line from 150mm to 200mm – something that was at the heart of our move to the new cleanroom.”
The ICS was a founding member and key partner in the development of CSconnected, the first compound semiconductor cluster in Europe. The institute provides small to medium scale fabrication
capacity to complement activity at other cluster partners, with the expertise and capability to translate academic excellence through to practical, manufacturable devices and integrated subsystems.
Matt Brown, Director of Inseto, commented: “We are delighted to have been awarded this work and to have provided so much of the equipment being used by the Institute for Compound Semiconductors in its new cleanroom at the Translational Research Hub.”
Dr Sobiesierski added: “The post-delivery support from Inseto has also been great, working closely with our team and the OEM engineers involved to ensure that installation and commissioning proceeded smoothly.”
SUSS MicroTec MCS8 manual resist coating system (and partly in frame on the righthand side, an AD12 wet processing system), part of the equipment supplied to the Institute for Compound Semiconductor by Inseto.
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About the Institute for Compound Semiconductors
The Institute for Compound Semiconductors (ICS) is a world-class compound semiconductor research and small-scale manufacturing facility. Available to all on an open access basis, ICS provides a platform for
fabrication on wafers up to 200mm in diameter, where scientists and industry work together to prepare projects for translation into the production environment. Part of Cardiff University, the UK’s facility of choice is internationally recognised for stimulating, facilitating and enabling CS research
Figure 1: Ultrasonic wirebonding is an ambient temperature (‘friction weld’) process, so does not run the risk of damaging the cell. Bond integrity/quality is the product of the physical force and ultrasonic energy (i.e., power over time) applied. These parameters are controlled to ensure the bond takes and can even be adjusted to account for some levels of surface contamination.
Electromobility (e-mobility), the move away from using internal combustion engines in cars, bikes, buses and trucks etc., requires batteries to store and release power. The properties of a battery, or rather a battery pack, are therefore largely responsible for setting the vehicle’s performance. Storage capacity defines range and the rate at which power can be released sets acceleration.
In addition, the rate at which the battery pack can accept power determines charge times (in the case of battery EVs [BEVs] and plug-in hybrid EVs [PHEVs], for example) and how much power can be recovered through regenerative braking (in the case HEVs, PHEVs and range extended EVs [REEVs], for example).
A typical battery pack in something the size of a car comprises multiple battery modules, connected using bars, bolts and/or heavy gauge cables, arranged in parallel and series combinations to produce the desired energy and power characteristics. Each module can contain anywhere between a few and more than a thousand cells.
Consider these stats for the battery pack of the Tesla Model S Plaid. It has 99kWh total capacity, of which 95kWh is usable. It has five identical power modules. Each module contains 22 rows (i.e., series connections) of 72 cells placed in parallel (i.e., within each row). This equates to 1,584 cells per module and 7,920 for the pack. Each cell is a Panasonic lithium-ion 18650-type, so larger in diameter and length than a standard AA cell.
Not surprisingly, a vehicle’s battery pack accounts for much of its cost. For a BEV, that can be more than one third. With material costs more or less the same across the industry, all battery pack manufacturers are keen to make their products as cost-effectively as possible. However, they cannot compromise on durability or safety. And regarding this last point, ISO 26262 functional safety standard applies to the battery management systems (BMS) within or working alongside battery packs.
Connections
As mentioned in the Tesla battery example, several cells are placed in parallel. This is typically achieved by connecting the terminals of the cells to busbars. This tends to be done in one of two ways.
Laser welding. Each busbar is placed in physical contact with the respective terminals of all cells to which it is to be connected. Tooling can be an issue to account for any cell height tolerances. Also, as it is a traditional weld process, the objective is to heat metals until they fuse together. Here, there’s a risk that localised heat from the welding process penetrating the negative terminal can alter the cell chemistry and lead to catastrophic thermal runaway. NB: cell positive terminals are ‘floating’, so less vulnerable because of the air gap.
Ultrasonic wirebonding (see figure 1). The process is already dominating power electronics manufacturing as a flexible and robust method of making electrical interconnects in hybrids, switches and regulators; and it dominates the microelectronics industry. Also known as ‘friction welding’, there is minimal localised heating to the wire or battery surface and the process copes far better with tolerances in cell height (relative to the busbar). In addition, there are several industry specifications relating to wirebonding and bond quality that are being adopted within the automotive sector. For example, MIL-STD-883E, Notice 4, Method 2011.7 is a test to measure bond strengths. See figure 2.
Figure 2: Above, MIL-STD-883E, Notice 4, Method 2011.7 states the minimum forces to be applied during a bond wire pull test depending on the material and its diameter. This is a non-destructive test, and the bond wire is pulled midway along its length. Some wire bonders can perform the test, using a hook, as part of the bonding process so the quality of every bond can be checked during production.
As mentioned, durability and safety are key and, in this respect, ultrasonic wirebonding has an edge over welding. Depending on the vehicle’s intended environment of operation, the battery pack may be subjected to significant vibration and mechanical shock. Any interconnect technology used at the cell level must withstand the external forces expected, to ensure a good operational lifetime.
The bond wire tends to be high purity aluminium, with a diameter of between 0.2 and 0.5mm and has a degree of softness and flexibility (annealing). Note: multiple bonds can be made side by side to accommodate high currents.
As for safety, with a suitable diameter, a bond wire can act as a fuse and a failing/shorting cell will effectively self-isolate, thus reducing the risk of fire or explosion.
In Practice
As mentioned, keeping manufacturing costs down is an imperative. But it’s not just the likes of Tesla keeping a keen eye on production costs. For example, Steatite’s Power Business Unit has recently taken delivery of an Asterion EV wire bonder – see figure 3. Steatite specialises in the creation of custom battery packs, which often need to be of a particular size and shape.
The bonder gives Steatite the ability to establish electrical connections using wire bonding in up to half the time spot welding would take, in many cases. In addition, wire bonding makes possible the creation of battery packs with high discharge capabilities and improved performance, as a result of the very low resistance of the bond wire.
Steatite’s engineers have been successfully spot- and arc-welding battery pack components for several years. Spot-welding is, in particular, suitable for the vast majority of the company’s products, in which some parts are up to 3mm thick. Wirebonding is therefore a complement to welding in the manufacture of most battery packs.
On a general note, for any high value manufacturing process, the ability to rework process steps to improve assembly yield is important, especially in the initial prototyping and pilot production stages. In this respect, wirebonding has the edge. Failing or weak bonds can be easily reworked. Moreover, wire bonders like the Asterion EV can automatically perform wire pull tests to verify the bond has taken.
Reworking a failed or imperfect weld is more problematic as there will be more surface material to remove and the cell will be exposed to another temperature process as it is rewelded. Also, depending on its design and once in place, a busbar might not allow access to individual joints for rework purposes.
In summary, welding and wirebonding both have key roles to play in the construction of EV battery packs. As for which process to use, this depends on the pack architecture, ease of access to the parts to be connected, whether or not fuses are required, the ability to accommodate reworks, volumes being manufactured, production costs (including time) and the end application.
Figure 3: Above, the Asterion EV wedge wire bonder in situ within Steatite’s Power Business Unit.
Inseto, a leading technical distributor of equipment and materials, has supplied and installed a Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) Asterion EV wedge bonder at Leicester-based BPC Electronics to support its expansion into sectors in which battery packs are used.
BPC, a contract electronics manufacturer, is renowned for its electronic design and PCB assembly services and has the usual manufacturing equipment one would expect of a CEM; including pick and place machines, solder reflow lines and a vapour phase oven.
The company’s investment in the Asterion EV gives BPC additional assembly capabilities and, in particular, the ability to manufacture battery packs for electric vehicles (EVs), other forms of e-mobility and the static storage of power (on the domestic and small industrial scale) from renewables such as wind and solar.
The EV is part of a family of Asterion wire bonders (the largest of which has a bondable area of 760 x 1440mm), the members of which are all ideal for establishing the numerous electrical connections found in battery packs. The EV has a bondable area of 300 x 860mm, pattern recognition capabilities and is driven by a direct-drive motion system that requires minimum maintenance, provides for extremely tight process control and delivers high repeatability.
Mike Pitt, Sales Director of BPC Electronics, commented: “We’re already serving many sectors that use battery packs. We’re doing so by manufacturing circuit boards and cable harnesses, plus we do box builds. Offering battery pack design and manufacturing services is a logical expansion for us.”
BPC built a dedicated and spacious room for its Asterion EV, as the company envisages having a steady throughput of battery packs of varying shapes and sizes, and has already started building packs with 6, 12 and 24kWh capacities for a number of static energy storage applications. The company also plans to lease out time on its new wire bonder. “We have ambitious expansion plans,” concluded Pitt. “These include purchasing additional wire bonders in the future, as all the indicators are that our domestic markets are keen to have battery packs and associated products, such as battery management systems, that are designed, built and can be supported by companies here in the UK. Despite government incentives, investing in e-mobility and energy storage still requires a leap of faith. We give customers peace of mind because we’re a UK-based OEM that can develop, manufacture and supply most of what’s needed.”
Inseto has supplied and installed a Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) Asterion EV wedge bonder at Leicester-based BPC Electronics to support the CEM’s expansion into sectors in which battery packs are used.
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About BPC Electronics
Established in 1993 and with more than 25 years of experience, BPC Electronics is one of the UK’s leading companies for printed circuit board, LED assembly and electronic contract manufacturing.
Based in Leicester, the company offers a variety of printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing and design services, ranging from production and testing to contract electronics manufacture (CEM).
BPC supplies a vast range of PCBs covering simple single-sided boards through to flexi-rigid multilayer boards and has extensive experience of handling many different types of materials from ceramic to PTFE and everything in between.
Andover, United Kingdom – Inseto, a leading technical distributor of equipment and materials, has supplied and installed a Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) Asterion EV wedge bonder at Steatite’s Power Business Unit. Steatite specialises in the creation of custom battery packs, which often need to be of a particular size and shape, and the company has been designing and manufacturing lithium battery packs, COTS battery modules, and portable power and energy storage systems for more than 30 years.
The Asterion EV gives Steatite the ability to establish electrical connections using wire bonding in up to half the time spot welding would take, in many cases. In addition, wire bonding makes possible the creation of battery packs with high discharge capabilities and improved performance, as a result of the very low resistance of the bond wire.
Above, the Asterion EV wedge battery bonder in situ within Steatite’s Power Business Unit.
“Wirebonding complements our other manufacturing capabilities,” comments Dave Carlton, Head of Technical Sales at Steatite’s Power Business Unit, “and the Asterion EV was selected for its large bondable area [300 x 860mm], high resolution [0.1μ] and its ability to perform non-destructive bond wire pull tests whilst bonding. Also, the support from Inseto – from their recommendation of the Asterion EV through to operator training – has been excellent.”
Carlton goes on to say that power failure is not an option in many of the critical applications for which Steatite designs and manufactures battery packs. Steatite battery packs can, for example, be found in products and equipment used in medical, industrial, oceanographic, energy and transport applications.
“With the Asterion EV we have the peace of mind that every cell leaving our factory having been wire bonded is safe, reliable and robust,” concludes Carlton. “This is enabling us to maintain our reputation for battery pack performance quality, a reputation we’ve secured over decades in the power business.”
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About Steatite
Steatite Ltd is a market leader in the design, production, test and supply of rugged industrial computers, custom battery packs, MANET radio systems, advanced wideband antennas, and imaging technologies, all ideally suited to harsh operating environments.
Steatite has a rich heritage and strong reputation for creating technology that meets the operational demands of its customers. Operating from four dedicated UK facilities, the company has full in-house design, engineering, manufacturing and testing capabilities, ensuring that the Steatite name is synonymous with quality and reliability.
Part of the Solid State Plc group of companies (AIM:SOLI), Steatite’s web address is www.steatite.co.uk
Andover, United Kingdom – Lincoln-based RF and microwave design consultancy Cogent RFMW enhances its semiconductor verification and characterisation services through the use of a SemiProbe probe station, supplied by Inseto.
SemiProbe Probe Station Testing High-Frequency Devices at Cogent RFMW
Inseto, a leading technical distributor of equipment and materials, has supplied a SemiProbe probe station to RF and microwave design consultancy Cogent RFMW, enabling the company to enhance and extend its semiconductor verification and characterisation services.
Used in conjunction with benchtop T&M instrumentation, the probe station is being used for DC tests – including pulsed and continuous IV curves, Gummel plots, breakdown voltages and current gain – and RF tests that include small and large signal S-parameters, noise figure and load-pull linearity. All tests can be performed on wafers or die.
“The semiconductor industry is changing in the UK, and skills shortages are making it difficult for many manufacturers to do everything in house, even if they have the equipment,” comments Malik Ehsan Ejaz, Founder and CTO of Cogent RFMW. “At Cogent we have much sought-after skills, and the SemiProbe station supplied by Inseto plus equipment from Interligent and Focus Microwave enable us to support UK-based IC OEMs.
Ejaz, formerly Principal Engineer at CSA Catapult, goes on to say that skills shortages are the biggest hurdle manufacturers face.
Matt Brown, Managing Director of Inseto, adds. “The supply chain has had to re-invent itself in recent years to bring real value to customers. For instance, in 2021 we established a Process Development Laboratory, which is now in almost constant use, plus we’ve introduced equipment operation training courses. What Cogent RFMW is doing is another great example of how the industry is changing. A consultancy that is fully hands-on with advanced equipment and has the expertise to support semiconductor OEMs.”
Based in Lincoln, Cogent RFMW is well positioned to serve semiconductor manufacturers in the Midlands and the North.
Inseto is exclusive distributor for SemiProbe in UK, Ireland and Northern Europe.
For more information on SemiProbe Probe Stations – Wafer Probing Equipment, please click HERE.
Andover, United Kingdom – Inseto, a leading technical distributor of equipment and materials, has supplied and installed a Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) Asterion EV hybrid wedge bonder at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC).
The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) offers and develops wirebonding using a K&S Asterion EV wedge bonder, supplied and installed by Inseto.
The Asterion EV gives the national battery manufacturing development facility, UKBIC, the ability to provide a wider range of welding technologies to its customers. The new bonder – specially created to support battery module manufacturing – complements the facility’s existing laser welding capability, meaning the facility can now offer different welding technologies dependent on the application.
Andrew Britton, UKBIC’s Business Development Manager, said: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with Inseto on the installation of this new bonder at UKBIC, meaning that we can offer more welding choice to our customers. The bonder also features a non-destructive inline pull test capability to check weld quality. Also, with wirebonding, cells can be reworked and recycled more easily at end of life.”
Matt Brown, Managing Director of Inseto, added: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with UKBIC so that they can offer wirebonding as a means of interconnecting the many cells in a battery pack. Laser welding and ultrasonic wirebonding processes both have roles to play in battery pack manufacturing, but it’s the latter’s ability to place suitably sized wires that can act as individual fuses for each and every cell that’s got people interested. Also, there’s no need to pre-form complex busbars, which is the case for laser welding.”
The K&S Asterion EV, one of the most advanced bonders in the battery sector, is ultrasonic and uses ambient temperature ‘friction welding.’ It can place and bond aluminium wire in the 100 to 600µm diameter range and copper wire in the 100 to 500µm diameter range.
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About UKBIC
The £130 million UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) battery manufacturing development centre was opened by the Prime Minister in July 2021. The unique national facility provides the missing link between battery technology, which has proved promising at laboratory or prototype scale, and successful mass production. Based in Coventry, UKBIC welcomes manufacturers, entrepreneurs, researchers and educators, and can be accessed by any organisation with existing or new battery technology – if that technology brings green jobs and prosperity to the UK.
In addition to funding from the Faraday Battery Challenge through UK Research and Innovation, UKBIC is part-funded through the West Midlands Combined Authority. The facility was delivered through a consortium of Coventry City Council, Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and WMG, at the University of Warwick, following a competition in 2018 led by the Advanced Propulsion Centre with support from Innovate UK.
Andover, United Kingdom – SemiProbe has introduced a new family of small-footprint, low cost probe station for basic characterization for small sample testing of samples from die up to 100mm diameter.
SemiProbe mini-PS4L Low Cost Probe Station – Manual Version
The new “mini-PS4L” low cost probe stations are available in either manual or semiautomatic configurations to address multiple applications and testing requirements on devices that are 100 mm or less in size.
Developed in response to market requests for smaller footprint lower cost solutions for basic characterization of small samples, the systems feature a wide-range of modular accessories including DC or HF versions for testing partial or full wafers, individual die or packaged parts etc.
The mini-PS4L series is an expansion of the popular and patented Probe System for Life (PS4L) systems that address an even wider variety of wafer sizes and applications. The PS4L system is the most modular on the market and provides a perpetual field upgrade path. A unique “mini-PS4L” proposition offered by SemiProbe, is a full credit (conditions apply) if customers upgrade to the larger PS4L system.
Inseto is exclusive distributor for SemiProbe in UK, Ireland and Northern Europe.
For more information on SemiProbe Probe Stations – Wafer Probing Equipment, please click HERE.
Andover, United Kingdom – Inseto Invests in Wedge Bonder for its Process Development Laboratory and Launches Two Bonder Operation Training Courses
Kulicke & Soffa Asterion Wedge Bonder Installed at Inseto’s new “Process Development Laboratory”
Inseto, a leading technical distributor of equipment and materials, has invested in a Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) Asterion wedge bonder. Located in Inseto’s new Process Development Laboratory along with materials test and plasma cleaning equipment, the automatic bonder is suitable for the large-wire, fine-wire and ribbon bonding of hybrid circuits, semiconductor devices, sensors, and automotive power modules and battery packs.
Inseto has also launched two training courses: one for wedge bonding, the other for ribbon bonding. Both are delivered by Inseto’s factory trained and highly experienced engineers. Course content is tailored to meet a trainee’s exact requirements and modules include bond theory, bonding tool and wire/ribbon selection, machine setup and operation, process development and bond quality control, and maintenance and repair.
Matt Brown, Inseto’s Managing Director, comments: “These are challenging times for manufacturers. To take full advantage of industry’s latest manufacturing techniques companies must first develop and optimise their processes. They then need to ensure they’re getting the most from their equipment when they move into volume production. Early access to best-in-class equipment and thorough training for operators are therefore essential.”
Brown goes on say that most equipment distributors simply carry demo machines – on loan from their suppliers and which they intend to sell. Inseto, on the other hand, is investing in kitting out its own Process Development Laboratory.
“While all distributors say they’re committed to supporting their customers, we’re demonstrating our commitment through investment,” continues Brown. “Our laboratory is a quiet environment that doesn’t have distractions you find in a manufacturing environment. And with our specialists to hand it’s the ideal place to build and evaluate prototypes, and to receive training.” Inseto’s Process Development Laboratory is fully operational. Also, the company is now taking bookings for its bonder operation training courses, which can be delivered on customer premises if required.
Want to learn more about oxide wafer coatings, read our technical article published on LinkedIn HERE.
Thermal Oxide Wafer Processing
When applied to a wafer, an oxide coating adds a dielectric or passivation layer, needed to give a semiconductor, MEMS or BioMEMS device its desired electrical properties.
In our “Oxide wafer coatings: their properties and application methods” article, we discuss the two most common oxidation processes – Atmospheric Thermal Oxide (ATOx) and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) – and provide examples of applications that benefit from both.
We discuss oxide growth rate, and how it is influenced by temperature, the presence of other chemicals (water/steam in the case of wet ATOx), doping and crystal orientation.
Also, did you know, that during the oxidation process, oxide grows into the wafer as well as onto its surface. For silicon, the ratio is about 46% into the surface and 54% on top of the original surface. In other words, the overall wafer thickness does not increase by the depth of the oxide layer, as some of the Si is consumed during the oxidation process.
Inseto produces and supplies an extensive range of high-quality semiconductor wafers and substrates worldwide, used for production and research purposes.
For further information on Inseto’s range of oxide coated semiconductor wafers, please visit: HERE.
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