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Newport Corporation Offers Single Source Fiber Optic Manufacturing Solution

As part of the Newport Corporation, MRSI die bonding and epoxy dispensing systems are available as building blocks in the fully automated fiber-optic component manufacturing solution. This combined product portfolio allows Newport Corporation to be the only equipment supplier to offer assembly, fiber align, test, and burn-in solutions from a single source. Relationships between component manufacturers and equipment vendors are increasingly important as the industry prepares for the next growth phase. Manufacturers are seeking vendors with scalable solutions for all steps in the manufacturing process.
Neil Srivastava, Vice President and General Manager for MRSI, said: "Today's customers in the fiber optic communications marketplace are very sophisticated. These customers are seeking not just quality and dependable components, but cost effective true manufacturing solutions from established suppliers. Newport Corporation is the only equipment supplier to offer a single source complete solution to photonic manufacturers."
Newport's MRSI-5005 OPTO 5 micron accuracy assembly die bonder is complemented by the Automated Laser Diode Characterization System (ALDCS). Further downstream, various epoxy dispense and assembly systems complete the full line. Together with Newport Corporation's array of fiber processing, test and burn-in systems, a complete process solution is available.
Packaging consists of more than just assembly. Devices must be inspected, characterized, and tested. These processes represent different technologies but should not require different equipment vendors. Manufacturers who recognize the value in maintaining relationships with equipment vendors who provide a single source solution will see success in the future.

"On-Demand" Manufacturing via Automatic Recipe Selection

The introduction of automatic recipe selection enables "On-Demand" manufacturing. The equipment automatically determines which assembly or dispense program to run, based on reading the bar code of a boat or pallet as it arrives at the station. This advancement becomes a perfect solution when combined with the MRSI-505 Ultra Precision Assembly Work Cell, which can be loaded with seventy waffle packs simultaneously. Thus, the system can be set up at the beginning of the shift for a range of parts and automatically adapts to whatever scheduling events occur elsewhere in the assembly process.
Manufacturers, who continuously switch between products such as microwave modules utilize the feature as they balance their flow of amplifier, filter, and limiter modules. MRSI's integrated production lines of dispense, assembly, and epoxy curing equipment combine automatic recipe selection with full material traceability and SMEMA communications for a complete turnkey manufacturing solution.

MRSI Expands Asia Pacific Operations

MRSI has appointed Gheorghe-Catalin Pascariu to the position of Manager of Capital Equipment Sales for the Asia Pacific region and Vincent Chin as Application Engineer.

Mr. Pascariu brings an extensive experience in the semiconductor and microelectronics industry as well as his deep knowledge of the Asia Pacific market to his new position at MRSI. Mr. Pascariu is a specialist in advanced package assembly processes. He has an in-depth knowledge of production assembly processes including flip chip, eutectic die attach, epoxy die attach, wafer, and packaging.
Based in Singapore, Mr. Pascariu previously worked for Kulicke & Soffa, Inc, as a Technical Support Manager in the Asia Pacific region. He managed the support organization in the area and provided technical sales support. Prior to that position, he served as Technical and Service Manager for ESEC in the region. He can be reached at gpascariu@mrsigroup.com.

Mr. Chin brings more than a decade of industry experience to his new position, having previously served as Senior Process Engineer for Datacon Asia Pacific Pte. He has also worked for Kulicke & Soffa Singapore, Inc. and Alphasem Asia Pte. Ltd.
Mr. Chin earned his degree in Engineering Management from the Management Development Institute of Singapore. He holds a BS in Factory Automation with a major in Mechanical Engineering from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Mr. Chin's responsibilities will focus on customer support and applications development. He can be reached at vchin@mrsigroup.com.

Bruno Miquel Appointed Product Manager of Dispense Systems

MRSI is also expanding internally with the appointment of Bruno Miquel as Product Manager of Dispense Systems. Bruno will support MRSI dispensing product lines providing the interface between the market needs and the internal MRSI team. Bruno brings over 7 years of experience in sales and marketing of capital equipment for the advanced packaging and semiconductor market. He previously worked at Speedline Technology/Camalot as Marketing Product Manager in the Sales and Engineering Group.
He holds an MS in Engineering Management from Northeastern University in Boston, MA and a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of St. Denis - Paris XIII - France. Bruno can be reached at bmiquel@mrsigroup.com or tel.: (978) 667-9449 x 323.
MRSI conveys its warm welcome to its new employees.

MRSI plans Active Domestic and International Trade Show Schedule

MRSI made a strong showing at OFC 2002 with the MRSI-5005 OPTO Optical Assembly Work Cell and the MRSI-175Ag Conductive Epoxy Dispenser. MRSI was also very active abroad: at SEMICON Europa in April in Munich, Germany and SEMICON Singapore in May. The MRSI-5005 OPTO with its 5-micron placement accuracy prompted a lot of interest.
MRSI also exhibited at SMT Nuremberg, Germany, in June, demonstrating the MRSI-375 Die Bonder, which is in high demand in Europe.
Back in the U.S., MRSI will exhibit at SEMICON West, San Jose from July 17 to July 19, 2002 with Newport, booth # 11035. This fall's big event will be IMAPS 2002 in Denver, CO. Our booth # is 249. We are looking forward to meeting with you during these trade shows.
For more information, visit www.mrsigroup.com/tradeshows.htm.

"Feather Touch" Multi-tool Head Enhances Throughput for Die Bonding

MRSI announces the availability of a six head "feather-touch" tool turret for the MRSI-505 Assembly Work Cell that delivers increased cycle rates in die bonding and component assembly processes. This enhancement makes six separate tools always available on the robot head, thus allowing tool change to occur in parallel with movement. The new feature saves time and adds manufacturing flexibility.
In production, the appropriate selected tool indexes into position during X-Y positioning, such that the tool is available as soon as the system is ready to pick the next die. With this new feature, multiple die-specific collets can be used during processes such as eutectic die bonding, and when die-specific collets are needed for handling delicate GaAs and InP die.
Tools on the six-head turret rotate over a full 360 degrees of orientation to align die no matter how they are presented to the system, for maximum flexibility. Die are placed with a closed loop force control, programmable from 10 to 2,000 grams. Utilizing the turret feature, very high cycle rates are achieved.
The MRSI-505 Ultra-Precision Assembly Work Cell is regarded as the industry standard for ultra-precision assembly and is proven in critical microelectronic applications worldwide. Vision-guided and fully automatic, the MRSI-505 provides both ultra precision and high speed.

New Wafer Rotation Capability increases Die Bonding Yields

Wafer rotation for high aspect ratio die improves automatic die bonding. This feature integrates the vision system with a mechanism for theta rotation of the wafer frame assembly in order to align the die with the fixed ejector pins. This process enhancement increases the number of die that can be used per wafer, resulting in higher yields. As the system picks die from the wafer tape, it first vision processes the die and then rotates the wafer to ensure that the individual chips and the row of ejector pins align. This feature is important with long aspect ratio die, and particularly, for thin ones.
Increased demand for thin Gallium Arsenide and Silicon die in microwave and RF parts for communications and military applications has posed particular challenges for automatic die bonders. This advancement provides a solution to that challenge for direct picking from wafer.