Patent Abstract:
Systems and methods for treating workpieces are described. One embodiment relates to a deflux system including at least one array of nozzles, the nozzles adapted to transmit a fluid outward therefrom. The nozzles are moveable relative to one another, so that a distance between adjacent nozzles can be varied. The nozzles are individually adjustable with respect to an angle of spray emitted therefrom during operation. The system also includes a controller adapted to send a signal to each of the nozzles to transmit the fluid therethrough at a desired angle at a desired time. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Full Description:
RELATED ART 
       [0001]    Integrated circuits may be formed on semiconductor wafers made of materials such as silicon. The semiconductor wafers are processed to form various electronic devices thereon. The wafers are diced into semiconductor chips, which may then be attached to a package substrate using a variety of known methods. 
         [0002]    In certain chip attach processes, solder bumps are placed on pads on the chip, on the substrate, or on both the chip and substrate. The solder bumps are then melted and permitted to flow, to ensure that each bump fully wets the pad it was formed on. A flux is then typically applied to at least one of the surfaces to be joined and the surfaces on the chip and substrate are brought into contact. The flux acts to isolate the solder from the atmosphere and provides an adhesive force which acts to hold the chip and substrate together. A second reflow operation is then carried out by heating the chip and substrate to a temperature greater than the melting point of the solder, and a solder connection is made between the die pads and the substrate pads through bump reflow and chip joining. The joined package is then cooled and the solder joint established. Excess flux or flux residue remaining is then removed in a defluxing operation, which may include chemical rinsing and heating operations. 
         [0003]    Defluxing operations such as chemical rinsing have been be carried out using a system including a number of nozzles that deliver a fluid towards one or more substrates positioned on a carrier. Carriers may be positioned on a track that moves the carriers under the nozzles. One such deflux system includes four nozzles having fixed angles of distribution of the fluid. The nozzles are fixed in position on a frame as the carriers are moved thereunder. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]    Embodiments are described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are not drawn to scale, wherein: 
           [0005]      FIG. 1  illustrates a top view of a certain aspects of a system for defluxing chip and substrate package assemblies positioned on a carrier, the system including a plurality of individually controllable nozzles transmitting a fluid onto the chip and substrate package assemblies, in accordance with certain embodiments; 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  illustrates a side view of certain aspects of a system for defluxing chip and substrate package assemblies positioned on a carrier, showing the carrier on a moving track, in accordance with certain embodiments; 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  illustrates a side view of a package assembly including a chip coupled to a substrate through a plurality of solder bumps, and a flow of fluid that contacts the region between the chip and substrate to remove flux residue from the package assembly, in accordance with certain embodiments; 
           [0008]      FIG. 4  illustrates a top view of the package assembly of  FIG. 3 , showing the removal of flux reside from between the chip and substrate by the flow of fluid therebetween, in accordance with certain embodiments; 
           [0009]      FIG. 5  illustrates a top view of the system for defluxing chip and substrate package assemblies of  FIG. 1 , with the system adapted to process a different number of package assemblies, in accordance with certain embodiments; 
           [0010]      FIG. 6  illustrates a system including multiple arrays of nozzles, in accordance with certain embodiments, and 
           [0011]      FIG. 7  illustrates a flow chart of operations for a deflux process, in accordance with certain embodiments. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]    The use of flux in a chip attach process can lead to certain problems. Flux residue can cause voids to form in the solder joints, and thus lower the electrical performance. The flux reside also leads to decreased package reliability. Conventional defluxing systems often do not provide adequate removal of the organic flux residue present in the chip gap. 
         [0013]    Certain embodiments relate to a deflux system including a plurality of nozzles that are individually controllable as to the direction and angle of flow of a fluid delivered therefrom. Embodiments may include methods and devices. 
         [0014]      FIGS. 1-2  illustrate various aspects of a system that may be used to deflux substrates in accordance with certain embodiments. The system includes nine nozzles  21 - 29  positioned above a moveable track  11  (or carrier rail system) on which one or more carriers such as carrier  16  are placed. The carrier  16  of  FIG. 1  includes six package assemblies  19  (workpieces), each including a substrate  12  having a chip  14  thereon. 
         [0015]    The nine nozzles  21 - 29  may be generally positioned in a 3×3 array, as seen in  FIG. 1 . Each of the nozzles may be moved in relation to the other nozzles. The nozzles may be any suitable nozzle that can deliver a fluid therethrough, including, but not limited, to nozzles including solenoid controlled valves that can be controlled using computer software. The system may also includes suitable hardware and software that enables the nozzles to be physically moved to various positions in the x, y, and z directions. The system may also include a number of arrays of nozzles, positioned sequentially, to form a deflux tool including, for example, up to about 20 arrays of nozzles, with each array including nine nozzles as in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0016]    The nozzles may deliver more than one type of fluid  30  radially outward therefrom. The spray direction, pressure, and angle of spray may be individually controlled for each nozzle and may be changed when desired, so that different nozzles may have different spray directions, pressures, and angles. As seen in  FIG. 1 , the spray direction from the nozzles  27 ,  28 ,  29  in the middle row  33  is different from that of nozzles  21 ,  22 ,  23  from the row  32 , and different from the spray direction of the nozzles  24 ,  25 ,  26  from the row  34 . 
         [0017]    The fluid  30  that may be used for a process such as a deflux process may include one or more fluid components therein. Examples of fluid components include, but are not limited to, aqueous liquids such as deionized water, solvents such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFC&#39;s) and/or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC&#39;s), and gases such as air. In certain embodiments, liquids are used for removing the residue in the chip gap area and gases are used to wash off the residue in the liquid and dry the package during the deflux operation. Other embodiments may alternate the flow of liquid and gas to obtain favorable defluxing results. As noted above, embodiments may include multiple fluid inputs into each nozzle, which permits more than one fluid to be sprayed during a treatment process. Thus, embodiments may include, but are not limited to, deflux operations utilizing (i) deionized water alone, (ii) non-aqueous solvents alone, (iii) deionized water and air (for example, a pulsating sequence of deionized water and air), (iv) a non-aqueous solvent and air, and (v) deionized water and a non-aqueous solvent. The use of a controlled radial spray motion in combination with of different spray options, in accordance with certain embodiments, enables the user to achieve a larger window of deflux process optimization than conventional defluxing operations, with a goal of better flux residue removal and improved package reliability. 
         [0018]      FIG. 2  illustrates a side view of a portion of the deflux system of  FIG. 1 , including nozzles  21 ,  22 , and  23  positioned over the track  11  on which the carrier  26  holding the package assemblies  19  of chips  14  on substrates  12  are positioned. The nozzles may be configured to accept multiple feed lines  35 ,  37 , to permit more than one fluid to be delivered at a time during a process such as defluxing, if desired. The nozzles may in certain embodiments be in communication with a controller  40 . The controller  40  may include a microprocessor that can be programmed to control the use and position of each nozzle and the fluid flow therethrough, including, but not limited to, its position, its flow direction, its flow pressure, and its flow angle. Certain embodiments may also include in the system one or more sensors  41 , connected to the controller  40 . The sensor  41  may be a suitable sensor for determining information such as the size of the carrier  16  and/or the size and configuration of the package assemblies  19  including the chips  14  on the substrates  12 . The sensor  41  may send a signal to the controller  40 , which may include in memory the desired nozzle configuration, spray angles, spray pressures, and spray directions for different carrier sizes and assembly configurations. The use of the controller  40  and sensor  41  permit an automated process to be carried out. 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  also shows a side view of the carrier  16  and three package assemblies of substrates  12  with chips  14  positioned thereon. The carrier  16  sits on the track  11  and may move in the direction of the arrows in the carrier  16 . Solder bumps  18  are positioned between the substrates  12  and chips  18 . As the package assemblies including the substrates  12  with chips  14  positioned thereon are moved along the system in the direction of the arrows, they will be impacted by flow  30  from nozzles  21 ,  22 , and then  23 . 
         [0020]      FIG. 3  illustrates a side view of one package assembly  19  including a chip  14  on substrate  12 , with solder bumps  18  coupling the chip  14  to the substrate  12 . Flux or flux residue particles  42  from processing operations will be dispersed in various locations on the solder bumps or elsewhere between the substrate  12  and chip  18 . The flow of fluid  30  impacts against the solder bumps  18  and other surfaces in and near the region between the substrate  12  and chip  18 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 4  illustrates a top view of the package assembly  19  of  FIG. 3 , showing the fluid  30  contacting the package assembly  19  at a side region of the chip  14  on the substrate  12 . The fluid  30  flows into the region between the substrate  12  and chip  14  and flows between the solder bumps  18  and outward from under the chip  14 , as indicated by the arrows in  FIG. 4 . The fluid  30  dislodges the particles  42  from the various surfaces between the substrate  12  and the chip  14  and transmits the particles  42  outward from under the chip  14 , together with the fluid  30 , in the direction of the arrows. As the substrate  12  and chip  14  continue to move through the cleaning zone and are contacted by additional fluid  30  flow from the nozzles, the flow of the fluid  30  will also remove the dislodged particles  42  from the surface of the substrate  12 . 
         [0022]    Embodiments may be controlled so that different sizes and numbers of workpieces can be processed using the same system. For example, the system embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1  utilizes nine nozzles  21 - 29  to deflux six workpieces (package assemblies  19 ) positioned in a two lane configuration on the carrier  16 . The same nozzle system may be utilized to process a different number of workpieces. For example,  FIG. 5  illustrates a carrier  16  having three package assemblies  19  each including a die  14  on a substrate  12 , positioned in a one lane configuration. When only three package assemblies  19  are positioned on the carrier  16 , the size of the area to be treated is smaller than when six package assemblies  19  are positioned on the carrier  16 . As a result, it may not be necessary to utilize all nine nozzles  21 - 29  to achieve a desirable level of defluxing. Thus, the central row  33  of nozzles  27 ,  28 ,  29  may be turned off and have no flow of fluid  30  therefrom. In addition, the nozzles  21 ,  22 ,  23  and the nozzles  24 ,  25 ,  26  are moved closer toward the central row  33  of nozzles  27 ,  28 ,  29 . Such control enables the user to be able to treat workpieces of various sizes, numbers, and configurations, as well as workpieces on different size carriers, with the same system. 
         [0023]    The ability to control the spacing between the nozzles, as well as the spray angle and direction, also enables the user to minimize shadowing effects, which are locations in the gap between the chip and substrate that are not in the line-of-sight of the fluid flow. The detailed process control that embodiments described herein permit will also provide improved deflux processing for the tighter bump pitch, smaller die-substrate gap technologies being developed. 
         [0024]    In addition, individual control of the position and spray characteristics of each nozzle enables to user to control the length of the wash section in the deflux system based on cleaning efficiency. For instance, in certain configurations, such as the single row configuration of workpieces illustrated in  FIG. 5 , efficient cleaning can be carried out using six of the nine nozzles  21 - 29 . By moving the nozzles  21 ,  22 ,  23  and the nozzles  24 ,  25 ,  26  closer together, the wash section is smaller (or narrower) than if the nozzles  21 - 29  were configured and utilized as in  FIG. 1 , with all nine nozzles spraying fluid. A smaller wash section leads to a faster, more efficient processing operation. 
         [0025]    Embodiments may include multiple numbers of arrays of nozzles. For instance, the embodiment of  FIG. 6  illustrates a deflux system  46  including multiple arrays A 1  through A 20  (the dots between A 1  and A 20  indicate additional arrays), each having nine nozzles  21 - 29 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 6 , the arrays Al through A 20  are aligned in a sequential manner along the length of the deflux system  46 . The number of arrays present in the system may be varied to control the overall length of the deflux system. Deflux equipment may in certain instances be up to about 20 feet long, with up to about 20 sets or arrays of nozzles, depending on the process optimization and package reliability requirements for the deflux equipment. 
         [0026]      FIG. 7  illustrates an example of a deflux process flowchart using a system in accordance with embodiments such as described above. Box  50  is providing a system for performing defluxing operation, including one or more arrays of nine nozzles. Box  52  is determining the layout of the workpieces (e.g., package assemblies) positioned on a carrier (or carriers) in the system. For example, the carrier may include one, two, or more than two rows of package assemblies that include a chip positioned on a substrate. In certain embodiments, the carrier size may dictate the size and layout of the package assemblies thereon. In such a situation, only the carrier size may need to be determined to properly configure the system. Box  54  is determining how many nozzles (and arrays of nozzles) are needed to efficiently deflux the workpieces on the carrier, as well as the desired position and spray angle for each of the nozzles. Certain embodiments include up to twenty arrays, each array including nine nozzles. Box  56  is implementing the desired position and spray angle for each of the selected nozzles. Box  58  is spraying the deflux fluid, which may include one or more components therein, onto the workpieces as the carrier moves through the system. It should be appreciated that various additions, deletions, and changes may be made to the flowchart of operations. For example, certain embodiments may have more or less than nine nozzles. 
         [0027]    While certain exemplary embodiments have been described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive, and that embodiments are not restricted to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described since modifications may occur to those having ordinary skill in the art.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7