Openair-Plasma in Electronics Manufacturing

Vacuum plasma has been used in electronic applications for many years and the effects are well known and studied. A vacuum plasma is mostly a batch process and uses costly noble gasses like argon or helium. Even though inline processes exist through means of clamping chambers, there are limitations on speed and selectivity. Here is where atmospheric plasma or Openair-Plasma® comes into play. Openair-Plasma® uses compressed dry air and consumes very little power so that you can run this process at as little as 0,5 USD/hour and this includes all wearing parts and consumables. Openair-Plasma® can be put in line in a standard assembly line and will have no impact on the tact time as the plasma process typically takes less time than the following process itself. Openair-Plasma® can be turned on and off on the fly to enable a very selective coverage. With the special designed potential free nozzles, the Openair-Plasma® can be used in electronic applications without damaging the electronics. In this presentation we will discuss the principle of Openair-Plasma®, the different modes it can run (cleaning, activation, depositing) and the correlation to the use in different electronic applications. Also, will we discuss a DOE where Openair-Plasma® was compared to a vacuum plasma process before wire bonding. As quality and reliability becomes more and more important, we see a bright future for Openair-Plasma®, especially if this can be obtained at a very low cost.