ASM Launches Latest Version of SIPLACE TX micron

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Advanced packaging, which is one of today’s key technologies in electronics production, blurs the lines between OSATs, IDMs and “classical”, yet demanding, SMT applications. In times of rising time, cost and efficiency pressures, the production of SiPs and SoCs as well as the processing of dies and flip-chip modules on high-precision SMT platforms is becoming more common every day. ASM aims to meet the requirements of these complex application with a new and heavily improved version of the SIPLACE TX micron.

“As the world's largest supplier of equipment to the electronics industry, ASM serves the back-end segment for semiconductor production as well as classical SMT factories,” says Alexander Hagenfeldt, Head of Product Marketing at ASM. “The development of the new SIPLACE TX micron was based on decades of experience and the latest technologies from both fields to raise advanced packaging and high-density applications to a new level of productivity. The new SIPLACE TX micron is the fastest and most precise SIPLACE machine that ASM has ever introduced.”

Because the SIPLACE SpeedStar 20-segment high-speed head can now place up to 48,000 components per hour (cph), the new dual-gantry SIPLACE TX micron achieves a placement performance of up to 96,000 cph—made possible by the new placement head as well as by another shortening of its travel paths with a more compact feeder control unit (FCU) and Z-axis travel that has been shortened to 2mm.

Depending on installed options, the SIPLACE TX micron achieves placement accuracies of 25, 20 or 15µm at 3? with minimum component distances of only 50µm. The highest accuracy class is achieved with a new vacuum tool that features an exchangeable magnetic plate for rapid product changeovers. The new 4-mm versions of the Smart Feeder Xi also make pickups of smallest components and dies faster and more accurate. They use the latest micro-tapes, or the bottoms of the blisters are vacuum-leveled to prevent inclined positions of components within the tape. 

Thin-die Handling Further Improved

Since thin dies, flip-chips and the smallest 0201m components require extremely gentle handling, the entire placement process of the SIPLACE TX micron can be individually programmed for each component and placement position. This includes touchless pickup and zero-force placement.

For sensitive thin dies, the vision system features advanced image processing algorithms such as cracked-die inspection and die-chipping detection. That way, components with hairline fractures and lacerated edges are detected and rejected already during the pickup process.

Space Saver

The new SIPLACE TX micron delivers all this performance in the smallest possible space. Like its predecessor model, it occupies a footprint of only 2.23m by 1m (approx. 7.3 by 3.3 ft), it is a particularly attractive option for tight cleanroom environments, thanks to its DIN EN ISO 14644-1 Class 7 certification.