Recycling and Refurbishing of Epoxy Packaging Mold Ports and Plungers

Abstract

During the integrated circuit (IC) packaging process, acid or alkaline chemical ingredients in the packaging material and in the mold cleaning cake are the major contributor to the corrosion of mold ports and plungers. To prolong the service life of these parts, this study concentrates of three aspects of the problem: First, after recycling and cleaning the plungers and ports, a special vacuum coating is applied to counteract corrosion and reduce abrasion. This coating is resistant to acid and alkali and has a hardness of up to HV4000. This makes it both resistant to abrasion and prolongs working life. Halogen-free packaging material has now been introduced to produce Green Electric Membership Corporations (EMC). However, this material is more viscous than the older, more polluting, plastic cake and this shortens the time between mold cleaning and subsequently reduces time for production as well. Also, most abrasion of the plunger occurs within 3 mm of the tip. We have developed a silver welding technique for this portion and a process in which several materials are used for the main body of the plunger. The procedure involves cutting off the tip and welding on a compound material, we have used DC53 + F10 Steel. These techniques allow recycling and refurbishment of the plungers and ports of packaging molds to prolong their service life to a considerable degree. Take Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. as an example, if each plant uses 1000 sets a month, 12 plants will use 144 thousand sets every year. The saving on each set is about NT$1600. This represents a saving of half the expenditure on mold ports and plungers.