Anyone who has worked in a fancy restaurant can tell you that the small details make the biggest impact. The food has to be perfect, yes. But even a simple thing such as the way the napkins are folded or how often your water is refilled can make a lasting impression on the patrons. Oftentimes, tiny adjustments can lead to huge changes down the road, and the world of technology manufacturing is no different.
The process of temporary bonding and debonding has many dynamic parts. Various materials and methods can be used to achieve different results. For example, if you’re looking to decrease throughput time in your wafer production process, simply adjusting the substrate size or perhaps using a different material can lead to a quicker turnaround.
At Brewer Science, we take great care in developing the highest-quality and most cost-efficient methods. That’s why we understand that all adhesives are not created equal, and a slight change can produce vastly different results.
In a research paper discussing the impact of different materials and carrier, Brewer Science’s own Molly Hladik and Corning, Inc.‘s Aric Shorey outline several different carrier materials used in several bonding and debonding processes. What’s interesting to note is the difference the bonding material makes. Hladik and Shorey compared the process differences between a wax adhesive and Brewer Science’s BrewerBOND® 220 bonding material, which we just introduced last year. What they found is quite significant for two reasons.
The first has to do with bonding. For a device requiring coatings thicker than 20 µm, a wax adhesive, due to its thickness and waxy nature, must be applied in multiple steps. BrewerBOND® 220 material, on the other hand, is more viscous and can be coated to thicknesses of over 100 µm in a single coat. It’s like the can of paint that has the primer mixed in. One coat and you’re good to go, saving you time and increasing efficiency.
The second, conversely, involves debonding. They found that the debonding time was cut in half when using BrewerBOND® 220 material compared to a typical wax process. Because of the differences in their rheology, wax adhesives and BrewerBOND® 220 material must meet different criteria in order to reduce substrate stress enough to successfully debond the substrate from its carrier. BrewerBOND® 220 material has high thermal stability at temperatures ranging from 130°-170°C, yet is much more versatile than the wax, allowing for a wider range of appropriate debonding conditions.
So much goes into every single process, and we know from our almost 35 years of experience that little details make a big difference. Real technology solutions are our game, and Brewer Science can help you find yours, right down to the nitty-gritty details. Check out all of our products to see what else we’re working on, or contact us today to find out more.