PICOLITER SOLDER DROPLET DISPENSING FOR ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING

THE RESEARCH PROPOSED IN THIS DOCUMENT ADDRESSES SOLDER APPLICATION TO PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS AND OTHER SUBSTRATES WITH A NEW FLEXIBLE APPROACH THAT COULD BE EMPLOYED IN NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS, DIRECTED APPLICATION OF MOLTEN SOLDERDROPLETS, ON THE ORDER OF 30-100MUM, USING INK-JET PRINTING TECHNOLOGY. INK-JET PRINTING SYSTEMS USE THE EJECTION OF TINY DROPS OF INK TO PRODUCE AN IMAGE. THE DEVICES PRODUCE HIGHLY REPRODUCIBLE AND CONTROLLABLE DROPS, SO THAT A DROP MAY BE PRINTED AT A SPECIFIC LOCATION ACCORDING TO DIGITALLYSTORED IMAGE DATA. SEVERAL DISTINCT APPLICATIONS COULD EVOLVE FROM THIS RESEARCH. THESE INCLUDE: (1) A SURFACE MOUNT REWORK STATIONFOR REPLACEMENT OF BAD, OR IMPROPERLY ASSEMBLED COMPONENTS THAT INCORPORATES A HIGHLY ACCURATE AND AUTOMATED SOLDER DROPLET DISPENSING SYSTEM; (2) AN AUTOMATED IN-LINE SOLDER PPROCESS THAT WOULD DISPENSE ONE OR MORE TYPES OF SOLDER, AND FLUX, ONTO ELECTRONIC PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD PADS FOR BONDING OF HIGH PIN COUNT, FINE PITCH SURFACE MOUNT COMPONENTS; AND (3) SYSTEMS FOR SPECIAL APPLICATIONS, SUCH AS DISPENSING SOLDER DROPLETS ONTO FLIP CHIP BONDS, BUMPS FOR TAPE AUTOMATED BONDING (TAB), AND SOLDER PADS FOR FLEX CIRCUIT INTERCONNECTS.