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Bonding and Handling
Procedures for Beam
Lead Diodes
1. Storage
Under normal circumstances,
storage of beam lead diodes in
Agilent-supplied waffle/gel packs
is sufficient. In particularly dusty
or chemically hazardous environ-
ments, storage in an inert
atmosphere desiccator is advised.
2. Handling
In order to avoid damage to beam
lead devices, particular care must
be exercised during inspection,
testing, and assembly. Although
the beam lead diode is designed to
have exceptional lead strength, its
small size and delicate nature
requires that special handling
techniques be observed so that
the devices will not be mechan-
ically or electrically damaged. A
vacuum pickup is recommended
for picking up beam lead devices,
particularly larger ones, e.g.,
quads. Care must be exercised to
assure that the vacuum opening of
the needle is sufficiently small to
avoid passage of the device
through the opening. A #27 tip is
recommended for picking up
single beam lead devices. A 20X
magnification is needed for
precise positioning of the tip on
the device. Where a vacuum
pickup is not used, a sharpened
wooden Q-tip dipped in isopropyl
alcohol is very commonly used to
handle beam lead devices.
3. Cleaning
For organic contamination use a
warm rinse of trichloroethane
followed by a cold rinse in
acetone and methanol. Dry under
infrared heat lamp for 5-10
minutes on clean filter paper.
Freon degreaser may replace
trichloroethane for light organic
contamination.
Ultrasonic cleaning is not
recommended.
Acid solvents should not be
used.
4. Bonding
See Application Note 992, “Beam
Lead Attachment Methods”, for a
general description of the various
methods for attaching beam lead
diodes to both hard and soft
substrates.
Thermocompression:
See
Application Note 979 “The
Handling and Bonding of Beam
Lead Devices Made Easy”. This
method is good for hard sub-
strates only.
Wobble:
This method picks up
the device, places it on the
substrate and forms a thermocom-
pression bond all in one
operation. This is described in
MIL-STD-883, Method 2017 and is
intended for hard substrates only.
Equipment specifically designed
for beam lead wobble bonding is
available from KULICKE and
SOFFA in Horsham, PA.
Ultrasonic:
Not recommended.
Resistance Welding or
Parallel-GAP Welding:
To make
welding on soft substrates easier,
a low pressure welding head is
recommended. Suitable
equipment is available from
HUGHES, Industrial Products
Division in Carlsbad, CA.
For more information, see
Application Note 993, “Beam Lead
Diode Bonding to Soft
Substrates”.
Epoxy:
With solvent free, low
resistivity epoxies (available from
ABLESTIK in Gardena, CA,
MICON in Lexington, MA, and
many others) and improvements
in dispensing equipment, the
quality of epoxy bonds is
sufficient for many applications.
Equipment is available from
ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR
MATERIALS AMERICA, INC.,
Assembly Products Group in
Chandler, AZ (Automatic), and
WEST BOND in Orange, CA
(Manual).
Reflow:
Not recommended.
www.semiconductor.agilent.com
Data subject to change.
Copyright 1999 Agilent Technologies
Obsoletes 5954-2111
5965-8852E (11/99)