Method for precise placement of an array of single particles on a surface

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for efficiently and precisely adhering and centering particles on tacky areas on a surface containing an array of tacky and non-tacky areas. These methods and apparatus for particle attachment and centering involve holding and heating of the surface containing an array of tacky and non-tacky areas with particles adhered thereon for a period of time and at a temperature to allow the particles to adhere and center to the tacky areas. The surface containing the array of tacky and non-tacky areas can be heated either prior to, during or after a step of contacting the array with particles. Either discrete sheets or a continuous moving web of material having a surface containing an array of tacky and non-tacky areas can be employed. Each tacky area of an array of tacky and non-tacky areas has a size and bonding strength suitable for adhesion of one particle thereto in formation of an array. The array is populated with conductive-particles, is useful in the precise placement of particles on contact pads of electronic devices, such as circuit boards in semiconductor applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an improved method for efficiently and precisely 
adhering and centering particles to the tacky areas on a surface 
containing an array of tacky and non-tacky areas and removing particles 
from the non-tacky areas without removing the particles from the tacky 
areas. This net adhering of particles on the surface only to the tacky 
areas is termed net population of the surface (with the particles). 
The placement of particles, such as electrically conductive solder, on 
contact pads is critical to the adoption of array style semiconductor 
packages such as ball grid arrays (BGA). Such placement is also critical 
in the attachment of integrated circuits (IC) to packages or printed 
circuit boards through "flip chip" processes. Recent attempts have been 
made to improve, for example, solder ball interconnects, such that more 
reliable and/or less costly solder connections are made in electronic 
applications. Despite these efforts, there are still problems associated 
with the handling and transfer of particles, primarily conductive 
particles such as solder balls to form solder bumps, on the contact pads 
of electronic devices. However, there is still a need for further 
improvements, particularly with regard to the efficiency, precision, and 
robustness of the population process(es). As a result, improved products 
and methods remain a primary objective in this art area. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to an improved method for mounting 
particles on a surface having an array of tacky and non-tacky areas 
thereon, comprising the steps of: 
(a) obtaining the surfaces having an array of tacky and non-tacky areas 
thereon; 
(b) flowing the particles across the surface to allow particles to contact 
the tacky areas and adhere thereto; and 
(c) removing the excess particles not adhered to the tacky areas; 
whereby heating to a temperature of at least 30.degree. C. takes place 
prior to step (c). 
Further embodiments of the invention include a step of agitating the 
surface having the array of tacky and non-tacky areas with an agitation 
rate of less than 1000 cycles per minute, using ionized air to partially 
neutralize electrostatic charges, use of holding times to obtain improved 
results and transfer of particles such as in manufacture of an electronic 
device. 
In a further embodiment heating is not essential provided the particles are 
applied to the surface with tacky and non-tacky areas by agitation, such 
as vibration and use of hold times of the particles on the surface prior 
removal of excess particles and transfer to a substrate such as in 
manufacture of an electronic device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
This invention is an improved process for precisely and efficiently 
adhering particles to the tacky areas on a surface of a substrate having 
an array of tacky and non-tacky areas and removing particles from the 
non-tacky areas without removing particles from the tacky areas. This net 
adhering of particles to the tacky areas on the surface is termed net 
population of the substrate. For most applications of this invention, it 
is desired that there be one and only one particle attached to each tacky 
area of the substrate. The present invention is an improved process for 
the net population of this type of substrate having an array of tacky and 
non-tacky areas with particles only on the tacky areas. 
An important embodiment of the present invention includes a heating step of 
at least 30.degree. C. in at least one of the following: (a) for the 
surface having an array of tacky and non-tacky areas, (b) for the 
particles applied to the surface and (c) subsequent to application of the 
particles to the surface. However, if a heating step of at least 
30.degree. C. is undertaken in either step (a) or step (b), a preferred 
embodiment for holding the particles after application can be at a 
temperature as low as 20.degree. C. 
In a further embodiment, but less preferred, heating need not take place 
provided the particles are applied to a surface which is agitated at a 
frequency of at least 1000 cycles per minute and provided a hold time of 
at least two minutes is present after application of the particles to the 
tacky and non-tacky areas, i.e., excess particles are not removed from the 
areas. 
Surprisingly, in a preferred embodiment it has been found that the 
efficiency of net population of a substrate having an array of tacky and 
non-tacky areas is dramatically increased when the surface having an array 
of tacky and non-tacky areas with particles adhered thereon is held for a 
period of time and at a temperature of at least 20.degree. C. to allow the 
particles to adhere better to the tacky areas. The examples which are 
given below fully exemplify this dramatic increase in net population 
efficiency with only a modest increase in the hold time and substrate 
temperature during the population process. It is to be understood that the 
term efficiency of net population as used herein is a net or overall 
number in percent that takes into account the efficiency of population of 
the tacky areas with particles, minus the efficiency of depopulation of 
the tacky areas with the particles that are initially populated, and the 
efficiency of removal of particles from the non-tacky areas. The following 
equation is applicable: 
EQU OEP=EPT+EPNT-EDPT-EDPNT 
where 
OEP=net or overall efficiency of population in percent 
EPT=efficiency of initial population of tacky areas in percent 
EPNT=efficiency of population non-tacky areas in percent of tacky sites 
EDPT=efficiency of subsequent depopulation from tacky sites in percent (of 
tacky sites that were initially populated) 
EDPNT=efficiency of depopulation non-tacky areas in percent of tacky sites 
Since the number of particles that are flowed across the surface in step 
(b) is normally and preferably a very large excess and since most of these 
excess particles remain on the surface in non-tacky areas the number of 
excess particles is difficult to count and the quantity EPNT in the 
equation above becomes difficult to determine. Likewise EPT is 
unmeasurable because the populated sites are obscured by the excess 
particles. 
A useful way to describe the result of the process is to classify the 
number and type of deviations or errors from a perfect result, i.e., one 
particle per tacky area. 
EQU TE=V+TW+EX 
where 
TE=total errors per article 
V=total number of vacant tacky areas per article 
TW=total number of extra particles associated with a tacky area or "twins" 
per article 
EX=total number of extra particles left on non-tacky areas per article 
Then the error rate ER for the populated surface becomes 
EQU ER=1,000,000(TE)/TA 
where 
ER=error rate in parts per million (ppm) tacky areas 
TA=total number of tacky areas per article 
TE=total errors per article 
The improved net population process of this invention is discussed in 
detail below. Before the improved net population process is discussed, 
however, it is important to give an overall framework to this technology 
area involving the use of substrates having tacky and non-tacky areas in 
applications such as precisely transferring arrays of solder balls to 
electronic parts. This discussion is given in the section immediately 
below, and then detailed discussion of the improved process is given in 
the subsequent section. 
Substrates having Arrays of Tacky and Non-Tacky Areas and Associated 
Methods 
The array and method described herein are particularly suited for use with 
free-flowing particles. By "free-flowing" is meant that there is no 
substantial binding force to be overcome when separating a mass of 
particles into separate discrete particles and that the particles do not 
stick to one another or clump together under normal conditions of use. A 
discussion of particle to particle binding forces is presented in U.S. 
Pat. No. 5,356,751. 
For most electronic applications, the preferred particles for use in 
connection with this invention are electrically conductive materials, such 
as Cu, In, Pb, Sn, Au, and alloys thereof. Most preferred are solder 
balls. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, however, that the 
type of particle used in connection with the present invention is dictated 
by the particular application and is not an inherent limitation of the 
invention. For example, a particular application may require that an 
electrically insulating material be applied to a solder bump on a contact 
pad; e.g., to space one contact pad from another in a stack of circuit 
boards. The present invention may be used to advantage in such 
circumstances. Generally speaking, spherical particles will be preferred 
in the practice of this invention because of their ease in handling and 
particle symmetry. It is to be understood, however, that the size and 
shape of the particles are not critical to the invention. For example, 
slightly off-round particles such as seeds work well with this invention. 
For other applications outside electronics, the particles can have 
properties without any particular limits except for the limitation that 
the particles must have sufficient compatibility with the tacky areas such 
that the adhesive force bonding each particle to a given tacky area is at 
least the minimal value specified herein (i.e., at least 2 
grams/mm.sup.2). The particles such as beads can either be electrically 
conductive or electrically non-conductive such as glass; organic, 
inorganic, organometallic, or mixtures thereof; polymeric or 
non-polymeric; and living or non-living. Examples of suitable particles 
for this invention include, but are not limited to, mineral grains, 
chemical products, salt and sugar granules, polymer particles, 
mechanically ground solids, pollen, spores, and seeds. Some specific 
chemical product particles are alumina and silica; some specific polymer 
particles are poly(styrene), poly(methylmethacrylate) and poly(ethylene). 
Organic, inorganic, or organometallic chemical compounds that are 
pharmaceuticals, herbicides, pesticides, or have other biological activity 
are suitable particles for this invention; these compounds can be present 
at levels lower than or equal to 100% of the particle composition. If 
lower, other components can be present in the particles without limit. The 
particles can comprise any gas(es) and/or liquid(s) compounded with (e.g. 
absorbed on) any solid(s). For example, particles comprising 
dimethylsulfoxide (a liquid) absorbed onto alumina (a solid) are suitable 
in this invention. 
As used herein, the term "tacky areas" means areas having adhesive 
properties to enable a bond to form immediately upon contact with 
free-flowing particles under low pressure (e.g., the weight of the 
particles). Each tacky area should have a size and bonding strength 
suitable for adhesion of one free-flowing particle. In accordance with 
this invention, the tacky areas have a size and bonding strength suitable 
for adhesion of one particle per tacky area. Typically, the tacky areas 
are small shapes (i.e., dots) from about 0.25 um to 1000 um and for many 
embodiments they are from about 10 um to 500 um. The tacky area shapes may 
be circular, square, rectangular, oval, or another shape suitable for 
retention of the particle. Generally, circular shaped tacky areas are 
preferred. 
The spacing of the tacky areas is such that the position of one particle on 
one tacky area relative to the position of other particles on adjacent 
tacky areas matches the distance between and relative position of the 
contact pads of the electronic device to which the particles will become 
attached. The location of the tacky areas at least must allow the 
particles to touch some part of the contact pad to which it will become 
attached. In the embodiment where the particle melts (e.g., solder 
particles in contact with solder flux and a metallized contact pad), 
direct contact is required between the molten particle and the pad so that 
the molten particle can wet the pad and flow across the metal surface to 
cover the metallized pad. The initial contact of the particle with the 
metallized contact pad may be off-center because the wetting action of the 
molten particle will center the particle over the pad during attachment. 
For these noncritical embodiments, the original pattern of tacky areas is 
such that the location of each tacky area must align and overlap somewhere 
within the area of the corresponding contact pad area to which it will 
attach, and the size of the tacky area must be smaller than the particle 
so that only one particle is attached to each tacky area. Typically, for a 
tacky area having a particular size and bonding strength, there is an 
upper limit to the size and weight of particle, above which there is no 
substantial particle adherence, and there is a lower limit to the size 
particle which will adhere singly to each tacky area. For tacky areas with 
a tackiness of 2 to 6 grams/mm.sup.2 and particles of 0.127 to 0.762 mm 
(0.005 to 0.030 inch) diameters, the tacky area may be as small as 15% of 
the particle diameter to as large as 100% of the particle diameter and 
still get single particle attachment per tacky area. A tacky area of 30 to 
60% of the particle diameter is preferred. 
In cases where the contact pads are close together relative to the size of 
the particle, care must be taken so that the particles on adjacent tacky 
areas do not touch before and during attachment to the contact pads so as 
to avoid bridging adjacent contact pads. As the space between contact pads 
become smaller relative to the width of the pad and hence, to the width of 
the particle to be attached to the contact pad, it becomes critical to 
align the tacky areas and particles closer to the center of the matching 
contact pads to which the particle will become attached. This is 
accomplished by centering the tacky area positions in the imaging step to 
match the center of the contact pads and using a combination of smaller 
tacky areas and the optimum combination of tacky area thickness and 
diameter for the particular surface curvature of the particle to achieve 
self-centering of the particle in the tacky area (see later discussion of 
self-centering). 
Single particle attachment to each tacky area is assured when the size of 
the particle is large enough to cover the tacky area upon attachment, thus 
preventing further particles from ever touching the tacky area of an 
occupied tacky area. For the preferred embodiments of spherical particles 
and circular tacky dot areas, this is achieved once the diameter of the 
tacky dot area is less than the diameter of the smallest particle. A 
narrow size range for the particles is also desired to control the volume 
after the particle is attached to the contact pad. A uniform particle 
diameter is also desired for good contact between particles attached to 
tacky areas on a transfer substrate and the contact pads of the electronic 
device to which the particle is to be transferred. A size range of .+-.10% 
for the particle diameter is preferred. 
The array of tacky and non-tacky areas preferably has clearly defined tacky 
areas and has no foreign material adhered thereto. Preferably, the 
non-tacky areas are flat and smooth and are either disposed coplanar with 
the tacky areas or the tacky areas are disposed below the plane of the 
non-tacky areas. Most preferably, the non-tacky areas are flat and smooth 
and are disposed co-planar with the tacky areas. Although less preferred, 
the tacky areas may be disposed above the plane of the non-tacky areas. In 
each of these cases, there can be material at the interface of a given 
tacky area with the non-tacky area that is slightly out of plane right at 
the interface (either above or below the plane of the interface even 
starting with a coplanar substrate prior to imaging to form the array of 
tacky and non-tacky areas). While not being bound by any theory, it is 
believed in the case of a photopolymer layer that this effect results from 
the diffusion of unpolymerized components from the tacky areas into the 
non-tacky areas thickening the border around the tacky areas. Also lightly 
crosslinked tacky areas are less dense and slightly thicker than more 
highly crosslinked non-tacky areas. 
In a particularly preferred embodiment, the array of tacky and non-tacky 
areas comprises a photosensitive element that has been imagewise exposed 
to create the array. A variety of positive and negative photosensitive 
compositions are known to produce tacky images and may be used in the 
practice of this invention. Phototackifiable compositions become tacky 
where struck by light and are exemplified by compositions described in 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,221, U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,731, U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,909, 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,252 and German Patent No. 3,514,768. Photohardenable 
compositions are those which become hardened in light struck areas. A 
number of photohardenable compositions include CROMALIN.RTM. Positive 
Proofing Film SN 556548, Cromalin.RTM. 4BX, SURPHEX.TM. (embossable 
photopolymer film, CROMATONE.RTM. Negative Overlay Film SN 031372, and 
CROMALIN.RTM. Negative Film C/N all available from E. I. du Pont de 
Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del. CROMALIN.RTM. Positive Film SN 
556548, CROMALIN.RTM. 4BX and SURPHEX.TM. are preferred. These and other 
photosensitive products are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,268, U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,174,216, U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,308, U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,704 and 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,037, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein 
by reference. 
Photohardenable compositions are generally a combination of polymeric 
binder and photopolymerizable monomers. Suitable binders include co(methyl 
methacrylate/methacrylic acid) and monoethyl ester of poly(methyl vinyl 
ether/maleic anhydride), each of which may be copolymerized in various 
proportions. Suitable photopolymerizable monomers include ethylenically 
unsaturated monomers which have been found useful are those disclosed in 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,863; U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,831 and U.S. Pat. No. 
3,573,918. There may be mentioned as examples dipentaerytiritol acrylate 
(50% tetra and 50% penta), pentaerythritol triacrylate and tetraacrylate, 
polypropylene glycol (50) ether of pentaerythritol tetraacrylate, 
polyethylene glycol (200) dimethacrylate, dipentaerythritol triacrylate 
b-hydroxyethyl ether, polypropylene glycol (550) ether of pentaerythritol 
tetramethacrylate, pentaerythritol tetramethacrylate, polypropylene glycol 
(425) dimethacrylate, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate, and 
polypropylene glycol (340) ether of trimethylol propane triacrylate. Also 
useful are epoxy monomers containing ethylene unsaturation, e.g., monomers 
of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,576 and British Patent No. 
1,006,587. The binder may be varied widely in its ratio with the monomer 
but in general it should be in the range of 3:1 to 1:3. The monomer should 
be compatible with, and may be a solvent for, and/or have a plasticizing 
action on the binder. The choice and proportions of monomer and binder are 
made in accordance with the requirements of selective photoadherence. 
When the pattern of tacky areas is not used immediately, or is stored or 
shipped, it is useful to keep the tacky areas clean by protecting them 
with a cover sheet such as a polyester film, polypropylene film, or 
silicone release polyester film. Generally a thin 0.0127 mm (0.0005 inch) 
MYLAR.RTM. polyester film (E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Inc., 
Wilmington, Del.) is sufficient. 
When using photosensitive compositions to create the array of tacky and 
non-tacky areas, the photosensitive composition is first applied to a 
suitable substrate and is then imagewise exposed to create the desired 
array of tacky and non-tacky areas. As discussed more fully below, the 
choice of substrate will largely depend upon the method selected to mount 
the array of particles to the contact pads. Generally speaking, however, 
the substrate should be stable under the conditions of intended use, 
smooth, and show good adherence to the photosensitive composition. As will 
be recognized by those skilled in the art, one or more intermediate layers 
may be applied to the substrate to improve adhesion of the photosensitive 
layer. 
There should be facile control of the tacky areas with respect to size and 
placement. For the aforementioned photosensitive products, the array 
pattern is first composed by manual or computer assisted design, and is 
usually transferred to a photographic film that is used as a phototool in 
contact with the photosensitive product and with strong ultraviolet light 
to pattern the tacky array in the photosensitive product. For the 
CROMALIN.RTM. products, the photosensitive material would first be 
laminated to the clear substrate and then exposed through the phototool to 
create the pattern. The pattern could be made to coincide with the 
interconnect positions of a circuit board. For CROMATONE.RTM., a clear 
plastic film substrate is provided with the product so that it may be 
exposed directly through the phototool. Other patterning methods include 
projection exposure and direct writing as in digital imaging using a laser 
output device. 
With reference now being made to FIG. 1, an article or web 8 having an 
array of tacky and non-tacky areas suitable for use in accordance with the 
process of the invention is illustrated therein. In the embodiment shown, 
the article comprises a photosensitive layer 10 applied to a substrate 12. 
The photosensitive layer 10 has been imagewise exposed to produce 
alternating areas 14 which are non-tacky and areas 16 which are tacky. If 
the photosensitive layer 10 is a phototackifiable composition, the areas 
16 would correspond to the exposed areas whereas if the photosensitive 
layer 10 is a photohardenable composition, areas 16 would correspond to 
the unexposed areas. 
Alternatively, the article may be formed by attaching a thin sheet material 
having an array of holes to an adhesive coated substrate. Examples of such 
sheet material include screen mesh or stencils wherein holes have been 
formed by, for example, laser ablation, punching, drilling, etching, or 
electroforming. The article may also be formed by providing photoresist 
hole patterns on an adhesive coated substrate. An example of such an 
alternate article or web 108 is illustrated in FIG. 2, wherein an adhesive 
layer 110 is applied to a substrate 112. A thin sheet material 114 having 
holes 116 therein is then applied over the adhesive layer 110. The 
adhesive layer 110 is exposed in the areas of the holes 116 in the sheet 
material 114. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a 
similar type of structure, that is, a non-tacky surface having recessed 
tacky areas, will also result from the use of certain photosensitive 
materials (e.g., negative CROMALIN.RTM. or CROMOTONE.RTM.) which produce a 
"peel-apart" image. Generally, the further the tacky area is recessed in 
relation to the non-tacky area, the more likely size exclusion will occur, 
where no particles larger than the width at the tacky area recess, will 
attach. This effect becomes particularly pronounced as the tacky area 
recess approaches the size of the tacky area, that is, the depth of the 
tacky area is approximately equal to its width. 
With reference now being made to FIG. 3, still another embodiment of an 
article or web 208 having an array of tacky and non-tacky areas suitable 
for use in accordance with the process of the invention is illustrated 
therein. In the embodiment shown, the article 208 comprises an array of 
tacky areas 216 on a non-tacky substrate 212. 
It is noted that in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the tacky areas 16 are 
disposed co-planar with the non-tacky areas 14 whereas in the embodiment 
of FIG. 2, the tacky areas, corresponding to holes 116, are disposed below 
the plane of the sheet material 114, which defines the non-tacky areas. It 
is further noted that in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the tacky areas 
216 are disposed above the plane of the non-tacky substrate 212. 
This invention relates to an improved method for efficiently and precisely 
adhering particles to the tacky areas (as described above) on a surface 
containing an array of tacky and non-tacky areas and removing particles 
from the non-tacky areas without removing the particles from the tacky 
areas. This is discussed in depth in the section following this one. 
Following the population process, in many applications for this invention, 
the array of mounted particles described above is transferred to contact 
pads of an electronic device. The contact pads are usually made of a 
conductive metal such as copper, aluminum, gold, or a lead/tin solder. In 
a preferred method of transfer of the mounted particles, an array having a 
single particle adhered to the tacky areas thereof is placed in contact 
with the contact pads of an electronic device such that the particles are 
placed in registered contact with each of the contact pads and the 
particles are then released from the tacky areas of the array and are 
adhered to the contact pads. This method will be referred to as the 
"transfer method". In an alternate method of transfer, the array of tacky 
and non-tacky areas is formed directly on the contact pads (such as by 
coating, laminating etc.) prior to the particles being adhered thereto. 
This method will be referred to as the "direct method". 
In either the transfer method or the direct method, it is necessary to 
disassociate the particles from the tacky areas of the array. There are 
many alternate methods to accomplish this step, some of which are more 
applicable to either the direct method or the transfer method than to the 
other. For example, disassociation of the particles can be accomplished by 
mechanical forces, that is, an adhesive compound (e.g., a viscous flux, 
acting as an adhesive or having an adhesive component) can be applied to 
the contact pad. Upon contact of the solder ball to the adhesive compound, 
a bond forms which is stronger than the bond between the solder ball and 
the tacky area of the array. Thus, upon removal of the array from the 
contact pads, the particles are released from the tacky areas and remain 
adhered to the contact pads. Mechanical disassociation of the particles is 
particularly applicable to the transfer method. 
Thermal disassociation is yet another method of disassociating the 
particles from the array. By thermal disassociation is meant the 
application of heat sufficient to cause the particles to melt, wet the 
surface of the contact pads and flow to cover the pads. Preferably, as the 
particles melt, the substrate is brought closer to the contact pads to 
make sure that all particles contact their respective contact pads. 
Spacers may be used to keep the surface uniformly off contact from the 
contact pads themselves so as not to squeeze solder beyond the contact 
pads. 
The heat necessary to melt the particles may be provided by use of an oven, 
laser, microwave, infrared radiation or other convenient source. 
Temperatures in the range of 150.degree. C. to 400.degree. C. are normally 
sufficient to cause the reflow of the particles, particularly solder 
balls. It will be apparent to the skilled artisan that, in the event the 
substrate will be heated together with the particles, the substrate should 
be capable of withstanding such temperatures; that is, it should be 
thermally stable. Substrates such as KAPTON.RTM. (a polyimide film 
available from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del.), 
quartz, glass and the like may be used to advantage. Likewise, with regard 
to the material used to form the tacky and non-tacky array, such material 
should not melt during the heat step, but rather could be thermally stable 
or, alternatively, could completely volatilize at such temperatures. 
Negative CROMALIN.RTM. in particular has a tendency to melt during an oven 
heating disassociation step and thus is largely unsuitable for use with 
oven heating. In the event that the heat source used will not heat the 
substrate or tacky and non-tacky areas (e.g., a laser), thermal stability 
is not of great concern. 
Another method that may be used to disassociate the particles is 
photodisassociation. In this method, the tacky areas are exposed to 
actinic radiation whereby they lose their adhesive properties to 
disassociate the particle. 
To improve the wetting and adhesion of the particle, particularly solder 
balls, to the contact pads, a suitable flux may be used. A solder flux 
combination (e.g., rosin types, no-clean types, organic acid or synthetic 
activated) can be coated on the pads areas and/or on the solder balls to 
help clean oxide layers from the pad and solder, improving wetting of the 
metallized pad by molten solder thereby effecting disassociation of the 
solder ball from the tacky area and adhesion thereof to the contact pad. 
In the direct method, it is critical that the molten particle disassociate 
or displace the tacky area on the contact pad and completely wet the 
contact pad with the molten particle (e.g., solder). This could be 
accomplished by decomposing the tacky areas to volatile compounds when the 
melting temperature of the particles is reached or by using thermally 
stable tacky area materials that would be displaced by the molten 
particle. 
Once the particles have been released from the tacky areas and melted, they 
are allowed to cool and resolidify on the contact pads, e.g., to form a 
solder bump. 
Population Process 
This invention is an improved process for populating an array of tacky and 
non-tacky areas with free-flowing particles, such as solder spheres. In 
populating the array of tacky and non-tacky areas, it is desired to effect 
placement of a controlled number of particles on each tacky area while 
insuring that there are no excess particles remaining in any area that is 
non-tacky, i.e., there should be no excess particles remaining in any 
non-tacky area at the end of the population process. Most often for 
electronic applications in particular, it is desirable to place precisely 
one particle on each tacky area. 
In general, the population step may be accomplished in a number of ways. 
Generally the article with the pattern of tacky areas is placed in a 
container with an excess of particles and the container gently moved so as 
to allow the particles to move across the array until all tacky areas 
become occupied. Alternatively excess particles are sprinkled onto the 
tacky areas until all tacky areas are covered with particles. Excess 
particles are removed from the fully occupied pattern of tacky areas by 
gravity, gentle tapping, gentle blowing, vacuum and other methods. The 
force used in the clean up of excess particles depends on the adhesive 
strength of the bond between the tacky areas and the particles. This step, 
the application of free flowing particles to patterns of tacky areas, is 
accomplished best when electrostatic charging is avoided by using 
electrically conducting, grounded containers, humidified atmosphere and 
with the use of ion generators as in the use of ionized air. This step is 
further aided by a clean atmosphere to prevent the attachment of foreign 
matter to the tacky areas. 
FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 illustrate the different cases of the arrays shown in 
FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 respectively, with spherical particles 20 attached to 
the tacky areas 16, 116, and 216 of the array to form populated articles 
or webs 8p, 108p, and 208p, respectively. 
The figures above showing particles attached to tacky areas of an array of 
tacky and non-tacky areas are schematic. It should be understood that 
these figures depict representation(s) not-to-scale. In actual practice of 
this invention, typically particles initially attach to tacky areas near 
the perimeter of the tacky area with relatively light wetting of the 
particle by the tacky area. Later, at equilibrium wetting, typically there 
is full or nearly full embedding of particles in the tacky areas with 
centering of the particles. 
The process of attaching particles to patterns of tacky areas is aided by 
the tacky areas having sufficient tackiness to grab and hold the particles 
immediately upon contact. It is further desired for the attachment of the 
particle to the tacky area to be strong enough to withstand the various 
forces (e.g., vibrator, tapping, shaking, jiggling, moving, bumping 
contact, vacuum or blowing forces, etc.) that occur while populating the 
array with particles and during the removal of excess particles from the 
fully populated array. In addition, it is advantageous to have sufficient 
adhesive strength between the particles and the tacky areas to hold the 
particles in place during handling and possible shipment. Furthermore, 
tacky areas with a tackiness of at least 0.5 grams/mm.sup.2 can be 
populated by particles, but it is preferred that the tacky areas have a 
tackiness of at least 2 g/mm.sup.2 and it is most preferred that the tacky 
areas have a tackiness of at least 5 g/mm.sup.2, especially when patterns 
of tacky areas populated with particles are to be shipped without loss of 
the particles. 
The present invention is an improved method for effecting the adhering of 
particles to tacky areas on a surface containing an array of tacky areas 
and non-tacky areas such that any and all excess particles can be removed 
from the non-tacky areas without removing any particles from the tacky 
areas. Surprisingly and unexpectedly, it has been found that the overall 
efficiency (OEP) of the population process is significantly improved when 
the surface having an array of tacky and non-tacky areas with particles 
adhered thereon is held for a period of time of 2 to 60 minutes to allow 
the particles to adhere better to the tacky areas. The overall efficiency 
of the process is further significantly improved when the surface having 
an array of tacky and non-tacky areas with particles adhered thereon is 
held for a period of time and at a temperature of at least 30.degree. C. 
to allow the particles to adhere better to the tacky areas. It is believed 
the elevated temperature increases the adhesive properties of the tacky 
areas and speeds up the wetting process so a larger area contact between 
the particle and the tacky area is achieved in a shorter time. The 
elevated temperature should not have a substantial affect on the non-tacky 
area to change its non-tacky character and cause the particles to adhere 
thereto. The goal is perfect population with one particle per tacky area 
and no extras; with total errors (TE) per populated article of zero. 
Expressed as an equation: 
EQU TE=V+TW+EX 
where 
TE=total errors per article 
V=total number of vacant tacky areas per article 
TW=total number of extra particles associated with a tacky area or "twins" 
per article 
EX=total number of extra particles left on non-tacky areas per article 
Then the error rate ER for the populated surface becomes 
EQU ER=1,000,000(TE)/TA 
where 
ER=error rate in parts per million (ppm) tacky areas 
TA=total number of tacky areas per article 
TE=total errors per article 
For almost all tacky areas small particles will attach to the edge of the 
tacky areas as soon as the particles flow across the tacky areas provided 
that the kinetic energy of the particle is less than the initial bonding 
strength of the particle to the tacky area. Once the tacky areas are 
buried with excess particles at rest the number of vacancies V is very 
low. Remaining vacancies can be filled by gentle agitation of the 
particles across the article with periods of rest and V becomes 
essentially zero. However, the number of excess particles TW+EX is near 
infinity. If sufficient cleaning force is applied all the excess particles 
can be removed and TW+EX becomes zero. To be successful the cleaning force 
must be enough to remove all the excess particles from the non-tacky areas 
yet the cleaning force must be less than the adhesive force between the 
particles and the tacky areas. We find that in many cases of freshly 
populated tacky areas that immediate attempts to remove the excess 
particles results in removing many particles from the tacky areas. The 
initial adhesion (Adh.sub.0) of the particle to the tacky areas can be 
very low such that the forces applied to clean off excess particles TW+EX 
exceeds the adhesive force of the particle to the tacky area and V becomes 
large. This is particularly true with rough particles that are not wet 
well by the tacky areas (adhesion increases as the wetting area of the 
particle by the tacky area increases). 
It has been found in this invention that holding the array of tacky and 
non-tacky areas with particles adhered thereon for a period of time and at 
a temperature of greater than or equal to 30.degree. C. allows the 
particles to adhere and center better to the tacky areas. During this time 
the surface area of the particle wet by the tacky area increases, the 
particle is drawn deeper into the tacky area and the particle centers 
itself in the tacky area. This process stops when the particle penetrates 
through the tacky area and comes to rest in contact with the bottom of the 
tacky area or the circumferential rim of the tacky area. This process is 
quite slow at or near ambient temperature (e.g. 20.degree. C.) taking an 
hour or more to reach equilibrium. The time to reach equilibrium depends 
on several factors including the thickness of the tacky area, the width of 
the tacky area, the viscosity of the tacky material, the surface energies 
of the tacky material and particles which determines wetting rates and 
characteristics. Heating the array of tacky and non-tacky areas covered 
with particles adhered thereon greatly speeds up the wetting process and 
adhesion build-up of the particles to the tacky areas during the hold 
period. There is a big advantage in quickly providing robust adhesion of 
particles to the tacky areas for it allows for cleaning off the excess 
particles shortly after they were applied without the loss of particles 
attached to the tacky areas making the overall process much more 
convenient and efficient. In some cases it may be advantageous to heat the 
particles also, or to just heat the particles and not the tacky areas when 
the particles have sufficient thermal inertia to retain their heat for a 
brief period of time until they engage a tacky area. 
Suitable hold times for the methods of this invention vary with temperature 
in the heating step. Illustratively, for Method 2, the period of time in 
step (d), i.e., the hold time, can broadly range from 5 seconds to 45 
minutes. When the temperature in step (d) is at least 30.degree. C., the 
period of time in step (d) ranges from 10 seconds to 10 minutes. When the 
temperature in step (d) is at least 35.degree. C., the period of time in 
step (d) ranges from 10 seconds to 4 minutes. When the temperature in step 
(d) is at least 40.degree. C., the period of time in step (d) ranges from 
5 seconds to 60 seconds. In special embodiments where the temperature is 
less than 30.degree. C., the hold time can range from 2 minutes to 1 hour. 
Another surprising benefit of these process improvements is centering of 
the particles in the tacky areas during the hold period with or without 
heating. With the correct match of tacky area thickness, width and 
particle geometry the wetting process that occurs during the hold period 
draws the particle to the exact center of the tacky area. It is believed 
that surface tension forces between the viscous tacky "liquid" and the 
particle surface play a dominant role in this centering process. The 
wetting process and centering action has been observed to occur equally 
well whether gravity is aiding or opposing the joining of the particle and 
tacky area. That is, the process has been demonstrated with the particle 
and tacky area on the topside or bottom-side of the substrate. This 
self-centering effect can be critical for aligning particles with receptor 
pads in a transfer process, especially when the spacing between particles 
and between pads is small relative to the particle size. 
Complete centering depends on the tacky area diameter d being less than or 
equal to the wetting or contact diameter(x) of a sphere for a particular 
sphere diameter (2 r) and tacky area thickness(z) as shown in FIG. 12. It 
is only under these conditions that the sphere rests on the perimeter of 
the tacky area and, by definition, is centered. The relationships of r, x 
and z are described in the equation: 
EQU r.sup.2 =(0.5x).sup.2 +(r-z).sup.2 
[Equation solved for x is as follows: 
EQU x=2(2rz-z.sup.2).sup.1/2 ] 
where: 
sphere radius=r 
contact diameter=x 
adhesive thickness=z 
approximate contact area=3.1416(1/2x).sup.2 
Summarized below are some comparisons of observed contact diameter versus 
calculated contact diameter for several different sphere diameters and 
coating thicknesses. 
______________________________________ 
sphere coating calcd contact 
observed contact 
diameter .mu. 
thickness .mu. 
diameter .mu. 
diameter .mu. 
______________________________________ 
127 3.0 38 37.5-42.9 
127 4.0 44.4 41.6-50.0 
127 6.0 53.9 
127 10.0 68.4 
300 4.0 68.8 
300 8.0 96.7 
300 24.0 162.8 
______________________________________ 
It is not critical that the centering part of the process be complete at 
the end of step (b) in Method 1. The centering process continues until 
equilibrium is reached or the adhesive is inactivated or the particle is 
removed. Depending on the need for centering in the final use of the array 
of tacky areas populated with particles, it could be advantageous to speed 
up the centering and bring it nearer completion by the end of step (c) in 
Method 1. Heating the surface having an array of tacky and non-tacky areas 
with particles adhered thereon is the best method for both speeding up the 
centering process and building adhesion between the particles and the 
adhesive areas. 
Significant increases in the adhesion of particles to the tacky areas occur 
with a hold time of 30 to 60 minutes and some improvement is evident in 1 
to 2 minutes at 21.degree. C. For hold times of one minute or less the 
overall efficiency of the population process in this invention shows 
significant improvement when the temperature is 30.degree. C. or higher, 
and broadly the invention can be practiced at any temperature at or above 
30.degree. C. Preferably, the population of the array of tacky and 
non-tacky areas is conducted at a temperature that is greater than or 
equal to 35.degree. C. and less than the decomposition temperature of the 
tacky areas and less than the sticking temperature of the non-tacky areas. 
For photopolymers described in this invention the decomposition 
temperature of the tacky areas is greater than 100.degree. C. and the 
sticking temperature of the non-tacky areas is dependent on the degree of 
photocuring and on the hold time. Although the non-tacky areas soften 
above 40.degree. C. for a preferred composition for a light photocuring 
and above 60.degree. C. for a strong photocuring, as shown in Example 1 
population can still be very efficient at 50.degree. C. as long as the 
hold time is short (6 seconds). Preferably, the population of the array of 
tacky and non-tacky areas is conducted at a temperature that is equal to 
or greater than 35.degree. C. and which is less than or equal to 
80.degree. C. More preferably, the population of the array of tacky and 
non-tacky areas is conducted at a temperature that is equal to or greater 
than 35.degree. C. and which is less than or equal to 65.degree. C. Most 
preferably, the population of the array of tacky and non-tacky areas is 
conducted at a temperature that is equal to or greater than 35.degree. C. 
and which is less than or equal to 50.degree. C. 
One method (Method 1) of this invention comprises the steps of: 
(a) obtaining the surface having an array of tacky and non-tacky areas 
thereon; 
(b) flowing the particles across the surface to allow particles to contact 
the tacky areas and adhere thereto; and 
(c) removing the excess particles not adhered to the tacky areas; 
whereby heating to a temperature of at least 30.degree. C. takes place 
prior to step (c). 
In step (b), the number of particles that are flowed across the surface is 
normally and preferably in excess of the number of tacky areas in the 
array, such that 100% population of the tacky areas with at least one 
particle is possible. 
In one preferred embodiment, the method (Method 3) of this invention 
comprises the steps of: 
(a) flowing particles across the surface having the array of tacky and 
non-tacky areas at a temperature of at least 20.degree. C.; 
(b) heating the surface having the array of tacky and non-tacky areas with 
particles thereon at a temperature of at least 30.degree. C.; 
(c) agitating the surface having the array of tacky and non-tacky areas 
with particles thereon causing the particles to reposition across the 
surface to allow particles to contact and adhere to at least most tacky 
areas at a temperature of at least 30.degree. C.; 
(d) holding the surface having the array of tacky and non-tacky areas with 
particles adhered thereon for a period of time (hold-time) and at a 
temperature of at least 30.degree. C. to allow the particles to adhere and 
simultaneously move toward centers of tacky areas; and 
(e) removing excess particles not adhered to tacky areas at a temperature 
of at least 20.degree. C. 
In particle flowing step (a) of Method 3, the number of particles that are 
flowed across the surface is normally and preferably in excess of the 
number of tacky areas in the array, such that 100% population of the tacky 
areas with at least one particle is possible. In hold step (d), the hold 
time and temperature is normally and preferably enough to increase the 
adhesion of the particle to tacky areas such that the adhesion becomes 
sufficient to exceed any forces applied during removal step (e). In 
removal step (e), the conditions are normally and preferably enough to 
overcome any forces that attract excess particles lying over the non-tacky 
areas but not enough to remove any particles adhered to tacky areas. The 
process of this invention can be conducted such that particle flowing step 
(a) and heating step (b) are executed sequentially with particle flowing 
step (a) being executed first or can be conducted such that particle 
flowing step (a) and heating step (b) are executed simultaneously or 
particle flowing step (a) can come after heating step (b) and before 
agitation step (c) or heating step (b) can come simultaneously with 
agitation step (c) or heating step (b) can come simultaneously with 
holding step (d). It is also still advantageous over prior methods if 
steps heating (b) and holding (d) come after steps particle flowing (a) 
and agitation (c). Steps heating (b) and holding (d) singly or together 
are important in centering the particles in the tacky dots and in reducing 
the time required to center and firmly adhere the particles for further 
handling and processing. This may be important in manufacturing processes 
where productivity is critical. A further embodiment allows the 
temperature of each step particle flowing (a), agitating (c), holding (d) 
and removing (e) to be controlled independently. A further embodiment 
allows the temperature within each step to be controlled as a function of 
time. 
For example, there might be a benefit to having the heating (b) step occur 
only after particle flowing step (a) in the case where the adhesive 
properties of the tacky areas might be temperature sensitive and there is 
a possibility of an interruption of the process where the array of tacky 
and non-tacky areas on a surface is waiting for particle flowing step (a) 
to resume. Another possible benefit of controlling the temperature and 
hold time in this invention might be a case where the adhesion and 
embedding of the particle to the tacky areas needs to be limited to a 
certain value for the benefit of an unanticipated future use of the 
populated part. 
The particles of this invention must be free flowing particles as defined 
supra, but, other than this requirement, can have any other properties as 
desired. 
For many or most applications of this invention, it is desired to populate 
each tacky area of an array of tacky and non-tacky areas with one and only 
one particle. In order to populate each tacky area with one and only one 
particle, it is critical that the particle size be significantly larger 
than the size of the tacky area to be populated. In general, for cases 
involving population of tacky areas with various shapes, including 
irregular shapes, with particles of various shapes, including irregular 
shapes, a given tacky area should be no larger than about 30% of that of 
the particle. This value of 30% specifically applies for population of 
circular tacky areas with non-spherical particles. For spherical particles 
on circular tacky areas, it is suitable according to the invention to 
achieve a population of 1 particle for each tacky area when each tacky 
area is a circle having a diameter d.sub.1 and each of the particles is a 
sphere having a diameter d.sub.2, wherein d.sub.1 /d.sub.2 is in the range 
from 0.1 to 1.0. Preferably, d.sub.1 /d.sub.2 is in the range from 0.15 to 
0.9. Most preferably, d.sub.1 /d.sub.2 is in the range from 0.3 to 0.6. 
The method for mounting particles on a surface having an array of tacky and 
non-tacky areas thereon can be practiced with a surface that is part of a 
discrete web or a surface that is part of a continuous elongated web. In 
the case of a discrete web, a piece of web with an unpopulated surface 
could be placed in an apparatus at a single station, the surface 
population steps carried out at the single station, the web removed and a 
new web with an unpopulated surface placed in the apparatus to repeat the 
process. In the case of a continuous elongated web, the web could be 
threaded through an apparatus and advanced to one or several stations to 
carry out the population steps, with the web stopping at one or several 
stations. The advancing of the web removes the populated surface and 
brings in a new unpopulated surface to repeat the process. If discrete 
populated web products are desired, they can be cut from the continuous 
web after population. 
FIG. 8 shows a population device 300 that can be used to process a discrete 
web 302 having a surface 303 covered with arrays of tacky and non-tacky 
areas. The base 304 holds an annular web support ring 306 that may be 
clamped or taped in place. The web is attached to an annular web support 
ring 306 by tapping or clamping. Positioned beneath the web is a heating 
and agitating plate 326 which is adapted to hold the annular support ring 
306 in a recess 327. An upper surface 328 of the plate is out of contact 
with the bottom-side 330 of the web 302. Above the web is a vibratory tray 
308 attached to a moveable frame 310 that moves in the direction of arrows 
312 and 314 being propelled manually or by an actuator 316. The actuator 
may be controlled by controller 318 as is the vibratory tray 308. The tray 
308 extends across the width of the web 302 and has an outlet 309 on one 
side. The tray is filled with particles, such as particle 20, to be placed 
on the tacky dots on the web 302. The tray has a heating means 311 for 
heating the particles as they rest on the, tray bottom. The moving and 
vibrating tray acts as a particle dispenser to deliver particles 20 over 
the entire surface 303 of the web 302. Also mounted to the frame 310 is a 
bar 320 that holds an ionization air knife 324. The air knife is a known 
device that uses a row of ac corona discharge needles to ionize the 
surrounding air in a band. A sheet-like stream of flowing air is directed 
past the needles to forcefully distribute the ionized air over the web 
surface. The corona discharge function can be used effectively separate 
from the air function when air flow is not desired. The device 324 extends 
across the width of the web 302 and can be traversed over the length of 
the web by the action of the moving frame 310 to expose the entire surface 
303 to the influence of ionized air. 
The heating and agitating plate 326 has a heating means 331 that acts to 
heat the web 302 and the tacky areas thereon by convection and radiation. 
The plate 326 is attached to a fixed base 304 by way of vibration 
isolation mounts 334 at three or four corners of the plate (only two 
shown). The fixed base 304 is attached to part of a machine frame. 
Attached to the center of base 304 is an air cylinder 342 that is arranged 
to tap the bottom of plate 326 when a cylinder rod 344 is in the extended 
position. The cylinder is in communication with controller 318 to 
repeatedly tap the plate to agitate the frame 306 (and attached web) 
resting on the plate and thereby agitate the particles on the web. The 
agitation is generally in the direction of double ended arrow 346 to give 
a motion to the particle that has a vertical component generally 
perpendicular to the surface 303 of web 302. It is believed that 
contacting the web with another surface, particularly a grounded surface, 
inhibits neutralization of charges on the web. Therefore, the surface 328 
of plate 326 is spaced away from the bottom-side of web 302 which is 
believed to facilitate the neutralization of charges on the web by 
ionization device 324 before and during the dispensing of particles onto 
the web. An enclosure 348 surrounds major portions of the population 
device as shown to contain the excess non-mounted particles for collection 
and reuse. A container 350 is at the bottom of the enclosure to capture 
the excess particles. 
In operation, the web 302 is mounted on the annular support ring 306 with 
the image of tacky areas over the annular portion of the ring and facing 
away from the ring. If a cover sheet is used to protect the tacky areas of 
the web it would be removed at this time and the imaged web 302 would be 
treated with ionized air to neutralize the web. The ring with attached web 
would be placed in recess 327 and gravity could hold the ring in place. 
Particles such as solder spheres would be placed in the vibratory tray 308 
in a quantity greatly in excess of what is required to populate the tacky 
areas. The heating means 311 in the tray would be continually energized to 
heat the particles as they rest in the tray. Heating means 311 provides 
one way of providing the desired heat to facilitate attachment and rapid 
centering of the particles on the tacky areas. It may be used separately 
as the sole heat source or in conjunction with the heating plate 326, or 
the heating plate 326 may be the sole source of heat in the process. The 
vibratory tray would be briefly cycled to distribute the spheres uniformly 
across the tray at the outlet. The ionizing device 324 would be turned on 
without the air flow to ionize the air surrounding the surface 303 of web 
302 and actuator 316 would be in a position to place the outlet 309 of the 
vibratory tray at the left end of surface 303 as shown. The controller 318 
would signal the vibrator to turn on and begin dispensing spheres that 
would fall from outlet 309 to the surface 303 of the web. Controller 318 
would signal actuator 316 to move frame 310 to advance the vibratory tray 
from left to right so the outlet 309 dispensing the spheres travels across 
the web. When the outlet 309 reaches the right end of the web, the 
vibratory tray would be turned off and the actuator would be reversed 
under the control of controller 318 to return the tray to the left of the 
assembly. After the particles are dispensed, the controller 318 would 
signal the cylinder 342 to repeatedly extend and retract rod 344 to tap 
the plate 326 to further dispense the particles over the surface 303 of 
the web. This tapping will cause the spheres to hop up and down and 
collide with each other and move laterally on the web surface 303. 
The tapping will continue for a given time at a preselected frequency or 
for a given number of taps until each tacky area has a sphere contacting 
it. The air pressure to the cylinder will determine the energy transmitted 
to the spheres. In general the energy should be such as to cause the 
spheres to travel 2-50 sphere diameters off of the web surface 303. The 
number of taps should be such as to fully populate all the tacky areas 
with spheres, but not so much as to generate an excessive electrostatic 
charge due to the motion of the spheres 20 on the surface 303. Generally 
5-70 taps are sufficient to populate all the tacky areas without 
generating excessive electrostatic charge. Such a charge may cause "twins" 
where an unattached sphere attaches to an attached sphere on a tacky area, 
or extra spheres that cannot be removed from the non-tacky area. Between 5 
and 15 taps have been found to populate the tacky areas well without 
generating excessive charging. 
Tapping as a form of agitation has the characteristic of providing a dwell 
time between tap impulses that allows the spheres excited by the impulse 
of the tap to attach to a tacky area before the next impulse. A continuous 
sinusoidal vibration as a form of agitation was found to be less effective 
to aid population. With continuous vibration, it is believed the spheres 
were constantly being excited making it difficult for them to be engaged 
by the tacky forces. The tap duration is defined by applying and removing 
an impulse to the plate 326 and thereby the web and particles. The tap 
duration for the device 300 is the total time the cylinder rod is in 
contact with the plate 326. The dwell time between taps should be greater 
than a tap duration to provide time for the spheres to adhere to the tacky 
areas. To insure adequate dwell time during tapping, the tapping frequency 
should be less than 1000 taps per minute and preferably less than 500 taps 
per minute and most preferably less than 200 taps per minute. A frequency 
of about 0.5 to 3.0 and preferably 1.5 taps per second (90 taps per 
minute) has been found to work well. An air cylinder is useful for 
applying taps since the pressure can be easily varied to provide different 
energies to the particles. However, a rotating cam on a shaft with an 
eccentric that periodically strikes the plate 326 may also be an effective 
tapping device as may other means known to those skilled in mechanical 
arts. Lateral tapping may also work especially if it generates a vertical 
component of motion for the particles, but vertical tapping is preferred 
to avoid generating excessive lateral shear forces on the attached spheres 
that may more readily dislodge them from the tacky areas. 
After the predetermined amount of tapping is complete, the controller stops 
the tapping and the web is held at rest adjacent heated plate 326. This 
heats the tacky areas so they will wet the surface of the spheres 20 
quickly which plays a role in increasing the attachment force and the area 
contact with the sphere. After a predetermined hold time, the controller 
turns on the air flow to ionization air knife 324 which has already had 
the ac corona turned on. Controller 318 enables the actuator 316 to move 
the frame 310 from left to right to traverse air knife 324 across the web 
302 to blow the unattached spheres remaining on the non-tacky areas of 
surface 303 off the web 302. The blown spheres 20 will fall in enclosure 
348 and be captured in tray 350 from which they can be reused. This may 
complete the population process and the populated web can be removed and 
an unpopulated web placed in the device 300 and the process repeated. If 
additional centering action is desired for a particular set of conditions, 
it may be desired to continue with additional holding time at an elevated 
temperature before removing the populated web. 
Several variations in the device are possible and still practice the 
population process of the invention for a discrete web. For instance, for 
some situations where electrostatic charges are not a problem, it may not 
be necessary to space the heating and agitating plate 326 away from the 
bottom-side 330 of the web 302. In this case, the upper surface 328 of 
plate 326 may contact the bottom-side 330 of the web to achieve conductive 
heat transfer. Manual actuation and control can be practiced thereby 
eliminating controller 318. If heating of the particles is not required, 
heating means 311 may be omitted; if heating of the tacky areas is not 
required, heater 331 may be omitted. Alternatively or in addition to 
heating with heaters 311 and 331 is to heat the air in enclosure 348 so 
all elements of the device are at an elevated temperature that would tend 
to heat the tacky areas and particles. These modifications can still 
produce results that are an improvement over the prior art for populating 
particles on tacky areas. 
FIG. 9 shows a population device 300a that can be used to process a 
continuous elongated web 352 having a surface 354 having repetitive arrays 
of tacky and non-tacky areas. In this case, the web 352 would be presented 
to the device combined with a continuous elongated cover 356 to form a 
protected composite web 358. The web 358 could be provided from a discrete 
roll 360 or could be provided from a previous web treatment process as 
indicated by dashed lines 362, such as an imaging process. The device 300a 
comprises a first web support roller 364 and a second web support roller 
366 that support web 352 over a heating and agitating plate 368 positioned 
beneath the web. The heating and agitating plate 368 can be raised and 
lowered (shown lowered) so upper surface 328 can be in or out of contact 
with the bottom-side 400 of the web 352. The plate has a heating means 331 
that acts to heat the web 352 and the tacky areas thereon. The plate 368 
is attached to a moving frame 332 by way of vibration isolation mounts 334 
at three or four corners of the plate (only two shown). The moving frame 
332 is attached to actuators, such as actuators 336 and 338 that are 
attached to mounting plate 340 that is part of a machine frame. The 
actuators would be in communication with control 318 for coordination with 
other machine elements. In the up position, the actuators place the upper 
surface 328 of the heating plate in contact with the bottom-side 400 of 
the web. Also attached to the center of moving frame 332 is an air 
cylinder 342 that is arranged to tap the bottom of plate 326 when a 
cylinder rod 344 is in the extended position. The cylinder is in 
communication with controller 318 to repeatedly tap the plate to agitate 
the web resting on the plate and thereby agitate the particles thereon. 
The agitation is generally in the direction of double ended arrow 346 to 
give a motion to the particle that has a vertical component generally 
perpendicular to the surface 354 of web 352. When the actuators are in the 
down position, the surface 328 of plate 368 is spaced away from the 
bottom-side of web 352. As explained referring to FIG. 8, this is believed 
to facilitate the neutralization of charges on the web by ionization 
devices. 
The incoming composite web 358 is additionally guided by roller 370 and is 
tensioned by a braking device 372 acting on roll 360. The cover 356 is 
additionally guided by roller 374 and is collected in a discrete roll 376 
tensioned by a winding device 378 acting on roll 376. Positioned above the 
web 352 are ionization devices 322 and 322a. Also above the web 352 is a 
vibratory tray 308 having an outlet 309 and heating means 311 as in FIG. 8 
for dispensing particles 20. The vibratory tray is fixed to a machine 
frame at position 380. Web 352 is further guided by rollers 382, 384, 386, 
and 388 before passing between driven roller 390 and nip roller 392. The 
web 352 passes under nip roller 392 with the tacky area surface 354 facing 
roller 392 which is relieved in the central portion to avoid contact with 
any of the tacky areas. Cutting means 394 and holding table 396 are 
adjacent driven roller 390 and in the path of web 352. Between rollers 382 
and 384, the web is transported horizontally and passes between ionizing 
air knife 324 directed at the web surface 354 and 324a directed at the 
opposite web surface 354b. Beneath the device 300a is a container 398 for 
collecting excess particles 20. Controller 318 is used to control the 
various elements of the device 300a. 
In operation of the device 300a, an elongated composite web 328, having 
multiple repeating tacky and non-tacky arrays imaged thereon, would be 
provided from roll 360 and would be threaded over roller 370 and support 
roller 364. Cover 356 would be peeled off of the composite web at roller 
364 leaving web 352 to proceed to support roller 366. Cover 356 would 
proceed over roller 374 to roll 376 where it will be wound, driven by 
winding device 378. Web 352 would be threaded over rollers 382, 384, 386, 
and 388 and through the nip formed by driven roller 390 and nip roller 
392. Driven roller 390 may be propelled by a servo motor, stepping motor, 
or the like under the control of controller 318 to achieve precise 
movement of web 352. Control of braking device 372 by controller 318 will 
provide tension control for web 352 and composite web 358. Control of 
winding device 378 by control 318 will provide tension control for web 
356. 
The web is stopped to position a complete tacky area array over heating and 
agitating plate 368 and under ionization device 322a, and another adjacent 
array under ionization device 322. During advance of the web 352, the 
plate 368 is retracted to avoid rubbing contact with web 352 which would 
generate electrostatic charges that would be difficult to neutralize. It 
is significant that the web 352 is not contacting any surfaces between 
support rollers 364 and 366 to thereby provide good conditions for 
electrostatic charge neutralization During advance of the web 352, 
vibratory tray 308 is energized to dispense particles 20 through outlet 
309 to fall onto the static neutralized web 352. As the particles are 
cascading onto web 352, one repeat of the multiple tacky arrays on web 352 
passes by the outlet 309 so one entire array is covered by this relative 
motion between web 352 and outlet 309. When the covered array stops over 
plate 368, the vibratory tray is deenergized and the flow of particles 
from outlet 309 stops. It may be desirable to position the outlet 309 so 
that when the web 352 stops, the outlet is over a gap between multiple 
arrays and particles will only be dispensed onto the array present over 
plate 368. The rollers 390 and 392, cutting means 394, and holding table 
396 must be positioned so that when the array stops over plate 368, a 
populated array also is positioned with the gap between arrays located at 
the cutting means 394. The cutting means can then be actuated by 
controller 318 to cut between the arrays and thereby separate one 
populated array from the continuous web 352 as desired for further 
handling. 
When the covered array stops over plate 368, actuators 336 and 338 are 
signalled by controller 318 to raise plate 368 to contact the bottom-side 
400 of web 352. The heated plate quickly heats the tacky areas on the web. 
The controller activates cylinder 342 to extend rod 344 to tap the center 
of plate 368 to agitate the particles on the web. After a predetermined 
time or number of taps, the tapping stops and the web is held at rest for 
a predetermined time during which the web is heated. After the 
predetermined hold time, the plate 368 is retracted out of contact with 
web 352 and the controller causes driven roller 390 to advance the web a 
distance of one tacky array. As the just populated array passes over 
support roller 366, the particles on the non-tacky areas of the array 
progressively cascade down off the web and are collected in container 398. 
The progressive cascading and the angled web path at 402 prevent a large 
quantity of particles from coming off the web all at once that might 
dislodge the particles attached to the tacky areas. The flexibility of the 
web permits this progressive change in path over roller 366. 
As the web with previously populated arrays is moving between rollers 382 
and 384 the controller turns on air flow to air knives 324 and 324a 
positioned between the rollers. The ac corona to the air knives may remain 
on continuously. Air knife 324 acts to blow off excess particles that may 
still be temporarily adhered to the non-tacky areas as the moving web 352 
passes by knife 324. Air knife 324a similarly acts to blow off any 
particles that may have inadvertently fallen onto the back-side of the web 
352. When the web motion stops for the next cycle, the air flows to air 
knives 324 and 324a are turned off by controller 318. After stopping the 
web motion, controller 318 also activates holding table 396 to grasp 
populated web 352 with a vacuum while cutting means 394 is cycled to cut 
the web between populated arrays. The entire cycle just described can now 
repeat for the next tacky array on the continuous elongated web. Such an 
automated device 300a for populating a continuous web offers productivity 
advantages and labor savings not possible before. 
Referring to FIG. 9, there can be several variations to the hold time for 
the populated web in the process. A first hold time may occur beginning 
just after the particles have been agitated and the web is resting on 
heated plate 368 and before the web is indexed off plate 368 to present a 
new array for populating. During this time no forces are applied to the 
excess particles to try to remove them that may result in disturbing the 
particles on the tacky areas. A second hold time may occur beginning just 
after the web has been advanced to move the just populated array off the 
plate 368 and over the roller 366. Many of the excess particles will fall 
off the web due to gravity as the web is bent over roller 366, but the 
excess particles will not yet have been aggressively removed by air jets 
or vibrations. During this hold time the particles on the tacky areas have 
not been disturbed and may still be undergoing additional wetting by the 
tacky material to improve adhesion and centering. This second hold time 
extends until the populated array is advanced past the air knife 324 
during one of the web advances. A third holding time may occur beginning 
just after the excess particles have been aggressively removed by air 
knife 324 and before the array leaves the apparatus environment after 
rollers 390 and 392. During this time, additional heat may be applied to 
further accelerate centering of the particles if they have not yet reached 
the limits of centering. The first, second, and third hold times are 
controlled times when the populated web may be treated with independently 
controlled heating means or may not be heated for predetermined times to 
improve adhesion and centering before the populated web is handled for 
further use. 
Variations in the device 300a are possible and still practice the 
population process of the invention. For instance, different heating means 
may be employed to heat the tacky areas between support rollers 364 and 
366. Hot air convection heating may be employed with the air directed at 
the surface 354 and/or back-side 400. Radiant heating may also be 
alternatively employed or employed in combination with other heating means 
and directed at the surface 354 and/or back-side 400 of web 352. When 
these alternate variations are employed, heating plate 368 may be omitted 
and an alternate agitating means be employed. For instance, a tapping 
cylinder may be employed at each support roller 386 and 388 to agitate the 
particles on the web. It may also be possible to direct a focused impulse 
of pressurized air at the middle of the back-side 400 of the web to induce 
agitation of the particles. A dwell time between impulses would be 
included to allow the particles an opportunity to adhere to the tacky 
areas. 
FIG. 10 shows a further variation of the device of FIG. 9 for populating 
using a continuous elongated web. One notable difference with the FIG. 9 
embodiment is the absence of raising and lowering of the heating and 
agitating plate 404 of FIG. 10. The desirable spacing of the plate from 
the back-side 400 of the web 352 to facilitate neutralization of static 
charges and eliminate rubbing contact during web advancing can be 
accomplished by alternate means. In one alternative, the plate 404 can be 
carefully spaced away from the web 352 when it is under full tension used 
for advancing. When the advancing is stopped, the web tension can be 
relaxed by braking device 372 of driven roller 390 to allow the web to 
come into contact with plate 404. Plate 404 can also have a top surface 
406 that is porous (such as a sintered metal surface) and that has a 
vacuum applied therethrough to insure good contact with web 352 for good 
heat transfer for heating the tacky areas. In another alternative, the 
plate 404 with porous top surface 406 can be positioned to contact the web 
even under full advancing tension. To avoid actual contact during 
advancing, a pressurized flow of air can be applied to the porous surface 
406 which will raise the web above the plate 404 on a cushion of air. When 
it is desired to make contact with the web 352 for heat transfer to the 
tacky areas, the pressurized air would be turned off and a vacuum engaged 
to pull the web 352 into good contact with plate 404. 
Another notable difference between the FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 embodiments is 
the addition of a vibratory plate 408 between rollers 384 and 382. The 
surface of the plate would be closely spaced to web 352 so that during 
vibration, plate 408 would contact web 352 and would agitate the excess 
particles in the non-tacky areas to dislodge them from the web 352. During 
advancing of the web, vibratory plate 408 would be turned off and would 
not contact the web 352. Two air knives 324 and 324b would be directed at 
the tacky area side of web 352 to aid in removing excess particles. 
Another notable difference is the addition of another ionization air knife 
324v and a vacuum device 410 at support roller 384 to act as an excess 
particle remover and collector. The air knife 324v is positioned closely 
adjacent the device 410 with the air stream directed at the space between 
the device 410 and the web 352 as it passes over roller 384. If desired, 
another ionization air knife can be added on the opposite side of the 
vacuum device to further assist in removing excess particles and directing 
them into the vacuum device. The combined vacuum device 410 and air knife 
324v are useful for replacing the two air knives 324 and 324b when it is 
desired to reduce the air turbulence within container 398 and still 
provide agressive removal of excess particles. The combination may also be 
used in addition to the air knives 324 and 324b when additional removal 
capacity is required. The vacuum device 410 is shown in more detail in 
FIG. 11 where the air knife 324v is omitted for clarity. The vacuum device 
comprises a housing 412 and conduit 414 in communication with a vacuum 
source (not shown). The housing 412 contains a slot 416 extending across 
the width of the web 352 and a plenum 418 in communication with the slot 
416 and conduit 414. The slot is closely spaced from the surface 354 of 
the web 352 as it is tightly held on roller 384 by tension in the web 352. 
The tension and wrap angle over roller 384 keeps the web from being drawn 
up against the vacuum device 410 by the vacuum forces that are removing 
the excess particles from the surface of the web. 
A vacuum device may also be used with the devices 300 and 300a of FIGS. 8 
and 9, respectively. In the case of FIG. 8, the vacuum device, such as 
device 410 (FIG. 11), would be attached to bar 320 and the plate 326 may 
have to include a porous top surface which would also have a vacuum 
applied to hold the web 302 tightly against the upper surface 328 of plate 
326 during vacuum removal of particles from the surface 303 of the web. 
This would prevent the web from coming into contact with the vacuum device 
due to the vacuum forces that are removing the excess particles from the 
surface of the web. This is required since there is no applied web tension 
over a wrap angle to securely hold the web in place as there is in FIGS. 9 
and 10. 
The region (of the Heater Plate) to the left of the Vibratory Feeder lip 55 
becomes a heated hold area where the temperature of the particles and 
tacky areas can be controlled to enhance adhesion and centering of the 
particles to the tacky areas. The hold area continues beyond rollers 25 
and 30 and optionally across to roller 100. Although not shown, this 
remaining hold area optionally could be temperature controlled as well. 
One possibility would be to use a high temperature, up to 120.degree. C., 
in the initial area of the hold area, then cool down to near ambient 
temperature for the areas where the excess particles are removed. 
The population area could be divided into zones with independently 
controlled temperatures so that the steps (a), (b) and (c) can be 
independently controlled. In fact it could be advantageous to cool or not 
heat (a) and (b) if the continuous web stopped moving. 
The methods of this invention will afford populated surfaces having an 
array of tacky and non-tacky areas in which almost all of the tacky areas 
of the surface are populated with one particle per tacky area upon 
completion of execution of the method. Typically, there will be at least 
99.99% of tacky areas of the surface populated with one particle per tacky 
area. 
The methods of this invention will afford populated surfaces having an 
array of tacky and non-tacky areas in which very few particles remain 
attached to non-tacky areas upon completion of execution of a given 
method. Typically, there will be fewer particles than one per 10,000 that 
remain in the non-tacky areas. 
EXAMPLES 
Example C-1 
The photosenstive layer of the unimaged tacky dot film used in the examples 
that follow had the following composition: 
______________________________________ 
Amount % by 
Ingredient (g) Weight 
______________________________________ 
Poly(methyl methacrylate), MW* = .about.250,000 
6.97 12.18 
Poly(methyl methacrylate), MW* = .about.20-40,000 
9.39 16.41 
Pentaerythritol triacrylate 
14.54 25.41 
Tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate 
9.02 15.77 
Monoacrylate of resin from bisphenol A and 
12.53 21.90 
epichlorohydrin, MW* = .about.3,500 
2,2'-Bis(o-chlorophenyl)-4,4',5,5'-tetraphenyl- 
4.18 7.31 
biimidazole 
4,4'-Bis(diethylamino)benzophenone 
0.251 0.44 
Leuco Crystal Violet 0.275 0.48 
(Aldrich Chemical Co., Milwaukee, WI) 
1,4,4-Trimethyl-2,3-diazobicyclo-(3.2.3)-non-2-ene- 
0.0286 0.05 
dioxide 
4-Methoxyphenol 0.0286 0.05 
*MW = weight average molecular weight 
57.2132 
______________________________________ 
The photosensitive layer was coated onto KAPTON.RTM. E (50 microns 
thickness, DuPont, Wilmington, Del.) and dried to give a dry coating 
thickness of the photosensitive layer of 3 to 25 microns. 
The unimaged tacky dot film was imaged in the examples using contact 
exposure through a phototool by ultraviolet light at 365 nm and exposure 
level of 5 to 20 millijoules/cm.sup.2. 
Example 1 
This example illustrates the value of heating tacky dot images in the 
process of net (overall) populating the tacky dots. Solder spheres of 125 
micron diameter were used in this example. 
A tacky dot film with a pattern of 23,000 tacky dots 75 microns in diameter 
and 4 microns thick on 50 micron thick KAPTON.RTM. E (DuPont, Wilmington, 
Del.) was discharged with an ion fan (Field Service Ionizer, Richmond 
Technology, Inc., output 4 to 7 KV). The film is attached with adhesive to 
a 6.times.6" steel flex frame and placed on a hot plate, contacting the 
bottom-side of the film opposite the tacky pattern. The film was held 60 
seconds to equilibrate with the temperature of the hot plate. Temperatures 
of the plate and film were independently determined using thermocouples. 
The sample and equipment were contained in a class 100 cleanroom at 49 to 
52% relative humidity and 69 to 70.degree. F. A FSI ionizing air fan blew 
ionized air across the sample throughout the process. Solder spheres, 
125.+-.12.5 microns of 63 Sn/37 Pb, Indium Corp., (Utica, N.Y.) were 
uniformly sprinkled on the entire tacky dot pattern covering about one 
half of the surface. 
Immediately a pneumatic tapper shook driven by 50 psi air pressure shook 
the sample 15 times over 12 seconds causing the balls to jiggle about on 
the tacky dot pattern. Next the sample was held still with a 6 second 
dwell time then tapping resumed and 3 seconds later an air knife which 
afforded air at 60 psi pressure was swept across the sample and back at a 
height of 3.25 inches blowing off the excess solder spheres. 
The tacky dot film populated with one solder sphere per tacky dot was 
visually analyzed using a video microscope in all four quadrants for a 
partial representation of total population. A total of 2,977 sites of the 
overall 28,392 sites were checked for population. 
______________________________________ 
Plate T. 
Film T. Hold time 
Number of 
Number of 
% 
.degree. C. 
.degree. C. 
sec Vacant sites 
populated sites 
Populated 
______________________________________ 
21 21 6 105 2872 96.47 
21 21 6 478 2499 83.94 
33 30 6 20 2957 99.32 
33 30 6 60 2917 97.98 
45 40 6 1 2976 99.96 
45 40 6 1 2976 99.96 
57 50 6 1 2976 99.96 
______________________________________ 
From this data it is clear that moderate increases in film temperature 
dramatically increases the % population (percent population=efficiency of 
net population) of tacky dot sites. In this and all later examples, Plate 
T.=plate temperature and Film T.=film temperature, both measured in 
.degree.C. 
Example 2 
The procedure of this example was the same as in Example 1 except that the 
hold time was 30 seconds before the air knife was turned on. Results 
obtained are given below. 
______________________________________ 
Plate T. 
Film T. Hold time 
Number of 
Number of 
% 
.degree. C. 
.degree. C. 
sec Vacant sites 
populated sites 
Populated 
______________________________________ 
21 21 30 176 2801 94.08 
33 30 30 21 2956 99.29 
45 40 30 2 2975 99.93 
______________________________________ 
Again it is clear from the above results that population of the film sample 
containing an array of tacky and non-tacky areas is more efficient (higher 
% populated) with increasing temperature of the film sample during the net 
population process. 
Example 3 
The procedure of this example was the same as for Example 2 except that the 
hold time was 60 seconds before the air knife was turned on. 
______________________________________ 
Plate T. 
Film T. Hold time 
Number of 
Number of 
% 
.degree. C. 
.degree. C. 
sec Vacant sites 
populated sites 
Populated 
______________________________________ 
21 21 60 103 2874 96.54 
21 21 60 85 2892 97.14 
33 30 60 18 2959 99.39 
33 30 60 4 2973 99.86 
45 40 60 0 2977 100 
45 40 60 1 2976 99.96 
______________________________________ 
Again it is clear from the above results that population of the film sample 
containing an array of tacky and non-tacky areas is more efficient (higher 
% populated) with increasing temperature of the film sample during the net 
population process. 
Example 4 
This example was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 
the temperature was held constant at 21.degree. C. and the hold time was 
varied as shown below. The results obtained are given below. 
______________________________________ 
Plate T. 
Film T. Hold time 
Number of 
Number of 
% 
.degree. C. 
.degree. C. 
sec Vacant sites 
populated sites 
Populated 
______________________________________ 
21 21 6 292 2685 90.19 
21 21 30 176 2801 94.08 
21 21 60 94 2883 96.84 
21 21 130 14 2963 99.53 
21 21 130 18 2959 99.40 
______________________________________ 
The results obtained in this example illustrate that a longer hold time 
without heating before the air knife cleaner is turned on results in 
greatly increased net population efficiency (% population) of the tacky 
dot sites on each given sample. 
Example 5 
This example was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 
the hot plate was off to start, the hold time was 130 seconds before the 
air was turned on and the film temperature was varied between the initial 
population and air knife clean-up steps. 
______________________________________ 
Population 
Hold Hold and Number of 
Number of 
Plate T. 
Time Air Knife Vacant Populated 
% 
.degree. C. 
sec. Plate T. .degree. C. 
Sites Sites Populated 
______________________________________ 
21 130 21 16 2961 99.46 
21 130 40 0 2977 100 
40 130 40 3 2974 99.89 
______________________________________ 
The results obtained in this example illustrate that heating during the 
hold (and clean-up) results in increased net population efficiency (% 
population) of the tacky dot sites on each given sample. Heating before 
and during the sprinkling of particles onto the tacky areas, as seen in 
the last line of data above, does not seem to significantly improve net 
population; in this case it was somewhat worse. 
Example 6 
This example illustrates the effect of tacky dot temperature on the rate of 
attachment and self-centering of solder spheres. In this example, tacky 
dot temperature refers to the temperature of the film containing an array 
of tacky and non-tacky areas, and tacky dot thickness refers to the 
thickness of the film containing an array of tacky and non-tacky areas. 
A pattern of tacky dots on 50 micron thick KAPTON.RTM. E film was populated 
with 125 micron 63 Sn/37 Pb solder spheres and immediately turned upside 
down and used to cover a hole in a sheet aluminum spacer on a microscope's 
hot stage. Using a combination of reflected and transmitted light the 
tacky dots and attached solder spheres were viewed immediately through the 
KAPTON.RTM. E. The perimeter of the tacky dots and the contact area of the 
solder spheres were in sharp focus while the solder sphere appears as a 
dark shadow. 
FIG. 7A illustrates the web 8 of FIG. 1 in the condition where a spherical 
particle 20 first engages the corner 26 of a tacky dot 28 on a substrate 
12. In FIG. 7B, which is a view looking in the direction of arrows 7B--7B 
of FIG. 7A, the dark circle 30 represents the contact area on the surface 
of the particle 20 that is wetted by the viscous tacky polymer of the 
tacky dot 28. The solid line circle represents the perimeter of the 
viscous tacky dot 28. The dashed line circle represents the particle 
diameter which appears as the dark shadow when actually viewing the 
particle through the translucent web from the bottom-side. 
The following observations were made. The contact area 30 of the solder 
sphere 20 most often starts at the perimeter of the tacky dot 28 and was 
initially small relative to the area of the tacky dot. With time the 
contact area of the solder sphere 20 was seen to increase as it is wet 
more and more by the tacky dot 28. 
FIG. 7E illustrates the condition of FIG. 7A after a substantial hold time 
has taken place and wherein the relationship of the particle diameter, 
tacky dot diameter, and tacky dot thickness result in the particle 
contacting the entire perimeter 32 of the tacky dot surface before it 
bottoms out on the substrate 12. FIG. 7F illustrates view 7F--7F of FIG. 
7E. 
In case of FIGS. 7E and 7F the contact area 30 grew until it matched the 
diameter 32 of the tacky dot 28 in which case the solder sphere 20 had 
rimmed out and was centered over the tacky dot (this is case listed as ca. 
centered in the table below under position at equilibrium). 
FIG. 7C illustrates the condition of FIG. 7A after a substantial hold time 
has taken place and wherein the relationship of the particle diameter, 
tacky dot diameter, and tacky dot thickness result in the particle 
bottoming out on the substrate 12 before the particle contacts the entire 
perimeter 32 of the tacky dot surface. FIG. 7D illustrates view 7D--7D of 
FIG. 7C. 
In the case of FIGS. 7C and 7D the solder sphere 20 contact area increased 
until the sphere had sunk through the tacky dot 28 and rested against the 
KAPTON.RTM. film in which case it had bottomed out and was partially and 
substantially centered on the tacky dot (this is the case listed as 
bottomed out in the table below under position at equilibrium). 
The contact area was observed until no further change was observed with 
time in which case equilibrium had been reached. Time to equilibrium is a 
measure of the embedding rate of the solder spheres in the tacky dots. 
______________________________________ 
Tacky dot 
Tacky dot Tacky dot Time to 
diameter 
thickness temperature 
equilibrium 
Position at 
(microns) 
(microns) (.degree. C.) 
(minutes) 
equilibrium 
______________________________________ 
55 3 21 30 bottomed out 
55 3 40 6 bottomed out 
55 4 40 6 ca. centered 
55 4 50 2 ca. centered 
55 4 60 1 ca. centered 
______________________________________ 
This example illustrates that increasing the tacky dot temperature 
substantially decreases the time for embedding and centering of solder 
spheres in tacky dots. It also shows that a 4 micron thickness is 
sufficient to center a 125 micron solder sphere in a 55 micron tacky dot 
whereas a 3 micron thickness results in a bottomed out situation before 
there is nearly complete centering. Thus in the latter case there is only 
partial centering of the sphere with respect to the tacky dot (tacky 
area). 
Calculations show that for a 4 micron thick adhesive area and a 127 micron 
(5 mil) sphere the tacky dot must be 44.4 microns in diameter or less for 
complete centering. For a 3 micron thick adhesive the tacky dot must be 38 
microns or less for complete centering. Thus with the 55 micron tacky dot 
and 4 micron coating the particle can be 5.3 microns off center. For the 3 
micron adhesive the particle can be 8.5 microns off center. 
Example 7 
This example recognizes that spherical particles are wet by tacky adhesive 
photopolymer, sink through the adhesive coming to rest on the support film 
with the embed sphere having different contact areas depending on the 
tacky area thickness. 
Glass beads 75 microns in diameter were applied to various thicknesses of 
Positive CROMALIN.RTM. C/P (6BX) photopolymer color proofing film (DuPont 
Company) on a polyester support film. The beads were observed to sink 
through the tacky adhesive photopolymer and come to rest touching the 
support film. The contact diameter of the bead in the photopolylmer was 
directly observed with a microscope by viewing the beads through the 
support film. 
______________________________________ 
Adhesive thickness 
Contact diameter 
Calculated Contact Diameter 
______________________________________ 
6 microns 40 microns 40.7 microns 
18 microns 63 microns 64.1 microns 
______________________________________ 
Example 8 
This example, using arabidopsis seeds, illustrates that increased hold time 
increases the adhesion of particles to adhesive areas so that fewer 
vacancies occur in the removal of excess particles. 
Negative CROMALIN.RTM. photopolymer color proofing film (DuPont Company) 
was laminated to glass microscope slides and exposed with ultraviolet 
light through a phototool with 150 micron diameter transparent dots 
separated center-to-center by 1000 microns in a square array pattern. The 
coversheet was peeled off revealing an array of about 800 adhesive dots 
with a 150 microns diameter and a 1000 micron pitch. A sieved fraction of 
arabadopsis seeds between 250 and 300 microns in size was sprinkled on the 
slide and held various times before tapping off the excess seeds. The 
number of unoccupied (vacant) tacky areas were counted and examined for 
contamination. The vacancies appeared to be due to poor adhesion. The 
number of vacancies declined as the adhesion increased as the result of 
the hold times until a steady state was reached in about 1 hour. 
______________________________________ 
Hold time Vacancies 
______________________________________ 
0 minutes 22% of 800 dots empty 
5 minutes 15% 
30 minutes 8% 
60 minutes 3% 
210 minutes 3% 
______________________________________ 
Example 9 
This example shows that brief heating of an array of particles mounted on 
tacky areas increases the adhesion of the particle to the adhesive area 
faster than without heating. 
Example 8 was repeated and immediately after application of the seeds the 
slide with the tacky areas covered with seeds was heated briefly with a 
heat gun. After 1 to 2 minutes the excess seeds were tapped off the slide. 
The number of vacancies was between 5 and 10%; far fewer than the 22% at 
zero hold time and 15% at 5 minute hold time of Example 8. Clearly heating 
improves adhesion of the seeds to the tacky areas and reduces vacancies. 
Example 10 
This example illustrates that heating an array of particles mounted on 
adhesive areas for 5 minutes in an oven increases adhesion and resistance 
to water of the particles adhered to the adhesive areas. 
CROMATONE.RTM. photopolymer color proofing film (DuPont Company), much like 
the film in Example 8, was patterned with 12 adhesive areas of 0.044, 
0.055, and 0.062 inches in diameter and covered with millet seeds that did 
not pass through a 0.040 inch mesh sieve. After 10 minutes at ambient 
temperature the excess seeds were removed by spilling them off using a 
gentle circular motion. The adhesion of the seeds to the 12 adhesive areas 
was tested by soaking the populated film in water for 2.5 hours, removing 
the film from water and checking for loss of seeds. From 8 to 25% of the 
seeds came off. By contrast holding for 30 minutes at ambient before 
soaking in water no seeds (0%) detached. Again, the longer hold time 
improves adhesion of particles to adhesive area. 
Another pattern of 96 tacky areas each 0.055 inch in diameter was covered 
with millet seeds, held at ambient temperature for 5 minutes, heated in a 
58.degree. C. oven for 5 minutes, cooled for 2 minutes and soaked in water 
for 1.5 hours. Only 2 seeds (2%) became loose. Heating appears to improve 
adhesion as seen by resistance to detachment by water. 
Example 11 
This example is the first example wherein the tacky dot pattern is heated 
before solder spheres are sprinkled over the adhesive areas, heated during 
the hold time, and cooled as the excess solder spheres are removed from 
the non-adhesive areas using an AC corona air knife. 
The film, image and solder spheres of Example 1 were used in an example 
done by hand using a hot plate heat source and a stainless steel tray 
container. The film with a pattern of 23,000 tacky dots 52 microns in 
diameter and 4 microns thick was stripped of its coversheet, discharged in 
the ionized air from an AC corona and placed in a stainless steel tray 
that was preheated on a 40.degree. C. hot plate. The film was thoroughly 
heated for 2 minutes. Then a monolayer of 125 micron solder spheres was 
gently sprinkled over the film until the pattern of adhesive areas was 
covered. The film covered with solder spheres was held for 1 minute on the 
40.degree. C. hot plate. Then the tray and film were allowed to cool. The 
excess solder spheres were blown off the cooled film using an AC corona 
air knife under 40 psi air pressure. The resulting pattern was very clean 
with no twins (TW) and no extra solder spheres (EX) but had about 5% 
vacancies. The process was repeated on the same sample adding a little 
shaking to complete the population of all tacky areas before blowing off 
the excess to give 100% population, no vacancies, no twins (TW) and 5 
extras (EX). 
Example 12 
This example illustrates the process of the invention using an apparatus 
similar to that in FIG. 9 where the humidity is low and there is no ground 
plane adjacent to the web during ionization. The environment surrounding 
the apparatus during the test was 73.8.degree. F. ambient air temperature 
at about 15% relative humidity. Solder spheres the same as in Example 1 
were used. The tacky dot film was the same as Example 1 and was referred 
to as TH2 available from the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Del. The imaged 
film enters as an elongated continuous web of TH2 coated KAPTON.RTM. with 
the desired tacky dot image covered with MYLAR.RTM.. At roll 1 the 
MYLAR.RTM. coversheet is removed. An AC corona device between the 
MYLAR.RTM. and TH2 coated Kapton.RTM. creates ionized air near roll 1 to 
neutralize electrostatic charges (large) on the two films. Importantly 
there is no ground plane under the KAPTON.RTM.. It is believed a ground 
plane contacting the web during air ionization inhibits true 
neutralization of the web and particles. In the same zone, a vibratory 
feeder sprinkles solder spheres onto the TH2/KAPTON.RTM. under the 
influence of the AC corona, with no heat, and with no ground plane near 
the TH2/KAPTON.RTM.. The Tacky Dot image covered with solder spheres moves 
over a 40.degree. C. hot plate while avoiding sliding contact with the 
plate that may create electrostatic charges. The film stops over the hot 
plate and, as tension in the web relaxes slightly, the film contacts the 
plate for heating the film to about 35.degree. C. The hot plate is 
supported at the corners by vibration isolation mounts which are resting 
on a rigid shelf mounted on the backplate. The air cylinder tapper is 
rigidly mounted on the shelf and hits the bottom of the vibration isolated 
hot plate in the center and retracts allowing the hot plate to move freely 
with each tap which in turn vibrates the solder spheres up and down 
vertically with a little lateral movement as the spheres strike one 
another during agitation. It is believed a dwell between hits allows the 
spheres contacting a tacky area to be engaged before the next hit. The 
sample is tapped for 10 seconds at 35.degree. C. (60 psi air on tapper, at 
a frequency of 1.5 taps per second). The sample is held at 35.degree. C. 
for 30 seconds after tapping stops. The sample is conveyed over roll 2, 
down at approximately a 120 degree angle to roll 3 where the film travels 
horizontally with the populated part upside down. Most of the excess 
solder spheres progressively cascade off without contacting other spheres 
stuck to downstream tacky areas as soon as the film passes roll 2. The 
populated part continues advancing until it passes over an AC corona air 
knife operated at 40 psi which cleans off any remaining spheres in the 
non-tacky area without dislodging spheres attached to a Tacky Dot. The 
imaged pattern is visually examined and was observed to be nearly perfect 
with about one missing and one extra sphere for the pattern that has more 
than 20,000 Tacky Dots. 
Example 13 
This example illustrates the effect of tapping frequency, pressure and 
duration in the process of this invention on population efficiency. 
Example 12 was repeated tapper air pressure, tapper frequency and tapper 
duration and two temperatures were compared for the tapping and hold 
steps. 
______________________________________ 
Tap Tap Tap 
Freq Time # of Pressure 
Hold Temp Vacancies 
Extras 
(cpm) 
(sec) Taps (psi) (sec) 
(.degree. C.) 
(per 28,392) 
(per 28,392) 
______________________________________ 
96 10 16 60 30 35 5 9 
96 10 16 90 30 35 10 28 
96 30 48 60 0 35 2 33 
58 30 29 60 30 21 7 9 
58 30 29 60 0 21 7 4 
96 30 48 60 30 21 7 12 
200 30 100 60 30 21 11 53 
______________________________________ 
From the above data increasing the tap frequency from 58 to 200 cycles per 
minute increased extra spheres from 9 to 53 per 28,392. Increasing tap 
pressure from 60 to 90 psi increased extras from 9 to 28 per 28,392. In 
both cases the vacancies slightly increased as well. Increasing the tap 
duration from 10 seconds or 16 taps to 30 seconds or 48 taps also 
increased extras from 9 to 33 per 28,392. At zero taps (data not shown) 
the number of vacancies goes to several hundred or a few thousand per 
28,392. For the above conditions the ideal conditions for less extra 
solder spheres are between 0 and 16 taps at 60 psi tapper air pressure and 
a tapper frequency of 50 to 100 cycles per minute or less.