Indium Corporation, Finetech Partner for MIT Integrated Photonics Bootcamp

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In January, Indium Corporation partnered with Finetech for MIT’s Integrated Photonics Bootcamp, a week-long, hands-on learning experience held at the MIT.nano facility in Cambridge, Mass., USA.

The training ran from Jan. 13-17 and allowed participants to explore and learn to solve problems using lab equipment, preparing them for the challenges to be faced in the workforce. Indium Corporation’s Andy Mackie, Senior Product Manager, and Meagan Sloan, Technical Support Engineer, met with students to talk about the chemistries and physical properties of bonding materials, and stressed the importance of using that information to select the right materials for their application.

“We were pleased to have the opportunity to partner with Finetech and MIT for this event,” said Mackie. “It provided us with the opportunity to educate students and industry participants, and to learn more about Finetech equipment capabilities and the specific materials needs of the photonics industry.”

Indium Corporation and Finetech’s session covered precision bonding fundamentals and featured optics, die and substrate temperature, alignment tolerances, thermal mismatch, inert atmosphere, and force. A review of bonding technologies included thermo-compression and thermo-sonic bonding, and UV adhesive cure.

Finetech provided a demonstration of flip-chip bonding using the FINEPLACER® lambda bonder. Participants learned about one of the most critical bonds in a complex surface mount photonic device—the assembly of QFN low-profile quad transceiver modules using thermo-compression bonding of a VCSEL onto a sapphire substrate. Each student had an opportunity to “drive” the equipment to get a feel for the sub-micron placement accuracy of the system.

Participants were fascinated to see and align such small features. Most couldn’t wait to get their hands on the machine and try the alignment process.

Indium Corporation is a premier materials manufacturer and supplier to the global electronics, semiconductor, thin-film, and thermal management markets. Products include solders and fluxes; brazes; thermal interface materials; sputtering targets; indium, gallium, germanium, and tin metals and inorganic compounds; and NanoFoil®. Founded in 1934, the company has global technical support and factories located in China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the USA.