Single-Layer Gas Deflector for Uniform Reflow Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing reflow solder tools in the semiconductor industry face issues with gas flow and temperature uniformity in heating zones, leading to hot spots and cold spots, which reduce throughput and quality of solder joints, resulting in increased failure rates and reduced yield of semiconductor device packages.
Innovation Solution
Incorporation of a gas deflector with a single-layer structure and gas-permeating patterns to promote uniformity of the process, ensuring the process gas flow and temperature distribution across the heating zone, which ensures uniformity of the gas flow and temperature distribution across the heating zone, which ensures uniformity of the gas flow and temperature distribution across the heating zone, thereby increasing the productivity and reducing the failure rate in the bonds between the components on the semiconductor package substrates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional heating zones are used without gas deflectors, then the structure is simpler, but gas flow uniformity deteriorates leading to hot spots and cold spots
Solution Approach 1:
A gas deflector plate is introduced as an intermediary component between the heater and the semiconductor package substrate. This plate mediates the gas flow distribution, directing heated gas uniformly across the substrate surface and eliminating the need for complex multi-zone heating systems while achieving uniform temperature distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The gas deflector plate changes the physical parameters of gas flow by creating controlled turbulence and directing flow patterns. This transforms the gas flow from laminar to turbulent, enhancing heat transfer efficiency and uniformity without requiring changes to the heater structure or multiple heating zones.
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple heating zones are used to improve temperature uniformity, then temperature distribution improves, but device complexity and throughput time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gas deflector plate serves as a single intermediary component that replaces multiple heating zones. It uniformly distributes heated gas across the entire substrate surface, achieving temperature uniformity equivalent to multiple zones but with a single heating source, thereby maintaining high throughput.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the temperature uniformity function from the heating zones themselves and relocates it to the gas deflector plate. Instead of achieving uniformity through multiple independent heating zones, the uniformity is achieved through the gas flow distribution mechanism of the deflector plate, simplifying the system while maintaining performance.
3Productivity
If heating power is increased to reduce processing time, then throughput improves, but temperature uniformity deteriorates causing hot spots
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses pneumatic principles by optimizing gas flow dynamics through the deflector plate. The plate design creates turbulent flow patterns that enhance convective heat transfer, allowing efficient heat distribution at lower power levels and preventing hot spots even during rapid heating processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The gas deflector plate changes the flow regime from laminar to turbulent, which fundamentally alters the heat transfer parameters. This transition enables more efficient and uniform heat distribution, allowing the system to achieve high processing speeds without sacrificing temperature uniformity, as turbulent flow prevents localized overheating.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The gas deflector enhances the uniformity of gas flow and temperature distribution, increasing the throughput and quality of solder joints, reducing failure rates and improving the yield of semiconductor device packages.
Implementation Method 1
Each heating zone is configured to provide convection heat onto the semiconductor package substrates at a particular temperature
Implementation Method 2
Each heating zone is configured to provide convection heat onto the semiconductor package substrates at a particular temperature
Data Source
AI summary
A zone heater assembly of a reflow solder tool includes a gas deflector having a single-layer structure. The single-layer structure may include one or more gas-permeating patterns through which a process gas is to flow from one or more gas outlets to a gas exhaust of the zone heater assembly. The one or more gas-permeating patterns in the single-layer structure promote uniformity of gas flow through the gas exhaust and into a heating zone of the reflow solder tool. The uniformity of the gas flow of the process gas enables convection heat provided by the process gas to be uniformly distributed across the heating zone. In this way, the gas deflector described herein may decrease hot spots and/or cold spots in the heating zone, which enables greater flexibility in placement of semiconductor package substrates on a conveyor device of the reflow solder tool.