Achieving Success in Automotive Leadframe Packages

In recent years, the quality and reliability requirements of the

automotive market have increased

significantly. Among other things,

automotive customers are demanding zero defects and zero delamination

after extended reliability testing. To

support these market requirements,Amkor has invested and continues to invest substantial resources in two strategic directions.

The first strategic direction is the

development of automation tools to

significantly reduce escaped defects

and achieve zero delamination. Defect

trapping/isolation has been improved

by marking tracking identification on

leadframe strips prior to the start of assembly. The tracking marks are then used to create defect maps when

automatic optical inspection (AOI) is

performed following wire bonding and

again during open and short (O/S)

electrical testing after the completion of assembly. In addition to preventing defective parts from

escaping, these automatic inspections

provide rapid feedback to the process engineering team in the factory. In

the case of the defects caught at AOI, there is a photographic record of all defects found that the engineering team can use to troubleshoot the issue without the need for further failure analysis.

As a part of the plan for extending

automation implementation for the automotive market, Amkor is currently developing support for Die

Traceability Systems (DTS) for leadframe products. DTS leverages the

equipment and processes put in place

to support defect trapping with the

addition of the integration of the die

attach equipment with the strip mark

tracking to link the customer electronic wafer map to leadframe strip maps. This creates a record of which die are placed on which

leadframe locations. The unit laser

markers near the end of the assembly

process then mark a 2D code on the

package identifying the package and

linking it to the information about

the die and wafer as well as the defect maps generated during the assembly process. The DTS records will

be electronically transferred to

customers as needed. The second strategic direction has

been the development of the capability for leadframe packages to consistently

achieve zero delamination following extended automotive reliability (AEC Q100 & Q006 G1 & G0) testing. Many

different combinations of processes and materials were tried before consistent results were achieved. With the initial success of these efforts, further implementation is occurring across the broad portfolio of

leadframe packages. This success has

been achieved by focusing on many

factors including design, process and

environmental controls, and the

interactions of physical properties of

the bill of materials (BOM) elements.

This paper discusses these strategic

directions in greater detail.