Apparatus and method for bonding a plurality of dies to a carrier panel

1. A die bonding apparatus, comprising

a carrier support unit having

at least one support element defining a supporting plane and

a carrier holder operable to hold a carrier panel against the at least one support element to support the carrier panel on a side of the supporting plane with the carrier panel being parallel to the supporting plane;

a wafer feed unit having

a wafer holder operable to hold a diced wafer in a manner so as to space the diced wafer apart from the supporting plane defined by the at least one support element of the carrier support unit and orient the diced wafer with an exposed surface of the diced wafer substantially parallel to and facing the side of the supporting plane defined by the at least one support element of the carrier support unit and to which the carrier panel is supported; and

a die transfer module disposed between the carrier support unit and the wafer feed unit, the die transfer module operable to pick up a die from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and place the die on the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit for bonding the die to the carrier panel.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the wafer feed unit is movable along a wafer-movement plane parallel to the supporting plane defined by the at least one support element of the carrier support unit.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the carrier support unit is movable along a carrier-movement plane parallel to the supporting plane defined by the at least one support element of the carrier support unit.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 further comprising a die picking sensing arrangement having at least one sensor to determine a position of the die with respect to a predetermined pick-up location for controlling the movement of the wafer feed unit along the wafer-movement plane to align the die to the predetermined pick-up location, and

a die placement sensing arrangement having at least one sensor to determine a position of the die picked up by the die transfer module with respect to a target placement location on the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit for controlling a movement of the carrier support unit to move the carrier panel and a movement of the die transfer module in order to move the die and the carrier panel relative to each other in a manner so as to align the target placement location on the carrier panel and the die for the die transfer module to place the die on the carrier panel.

5. A die bonding apparatus, comprising:

a carrier support unit having

at least one support element defining a supporting plane and

a carrier holder operable to hold a carrier panel against the at least one support element to support the carrier panel on a side of the supporting plane with the carrier panel being parallel to the supporting plane;

a wafer feed unit having

a wafer holder operable to hold a diced wafer in a manner so as to space the diced wafer apart from the supporting plane defined by the at least one support element of the carrier support unit and orient the diced wafer with an exposed surface of the diced wafer facing the side of the supporting plane to which the carrier panel is supported; and

a die transfer module disposed between the carrier support unit and the wafer feed unit, the die transfer module operable to pick up a die from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and place the die on the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit for bonding the die to the carrier panel;

wherein the die transfer module comprises a pick-and-move unit having at least one pickup head movable between a pickup position and a release position,

wherein, when the at least one pickup head is in the pickup position, the at least one pickup head is directed towards the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and aligned to the die for picking up the die from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit, and wherein, when the at least one pickup head is in the release position, the at least one pickup head is directed away from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and directed towards the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the at least one pickup head turns over the die with respect to an original orientation of the die on the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit when the at least one pickup head is moved from the pickup position to the release position.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein, when the at least one pickup head is in the release position, the at least one pickup head is operable to urge the die towards the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit so as to apply a bonding force to bond the die to the carrier panel.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the at least one pickup head is rotatable about a rotational axis parallel to the supporting plane defined by the at least one support element of the carrier support unit so as to move and rotate the pickup head along a curved path from the pickup position to the release position, wherein a radial distance of the pickup position with respect to the rotational axis is equal to a radial distance of the release position with respect to the rotational axis.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the pick-and-move unit of the die transfer module comprises

a first pick-and-move unit having a pickup head movable between a pickup position and a release position, and

a second pick-and-move unit having a pickup head movable between a pickup position and a release position,

wherein the first pick-and-move unit and the second pick-and-move unit are arranged in series in a manner such that the first pick-and-move unit picks up the die at the pickup position of the first pick-and-move unit from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and moves the die to the release position of the first pick-and-move unit for transferring to the second pick-and-move unit, and the second pick-and-move unit receives the die at the pickup position of the second pick-and-move unit from the first pick-and-move unit and moves the die to the release position of the second pick-and-move unit for placing the die on the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit in order to bond the die to the carrier panel.

10. A method of bonding a plurality of dies to a carrier panel with a die bonder, comprising

picking a die, via a die transfer module of the die bonder, from a diced wafer held by a wafer feed unit of the die bonder having a wafer holder holding the diced wafer in a manner so as to space the diced wafer apart from a carrier panel held by a carrier support unit of the die bonder and orient the diced wafer with an exposed surface of the diced wafer facing a bonding surface of the carrier panel;

placing the die, via the die transfer module, on the bonding surface of the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit for bonding the die to the bonding surface of the carrier panel, and

moving the wafer feed unit along a wafer-movement plane parallel to the diced wafer based on determination of a position of the die with respect to a predetermined pick-up location via a die picking sensing arrangement having at least one sensor,

wherein the die transfer module is disposed between the carrier support unit and the wafer feed unit.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising

turning over, via a pickup head of the die transfer module, the die with respect to an original orientation of the die on the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit as the pickup head is moved from a pickup position to a release position,

wherein, when the pickup head is in the pickup position, the pickup head is directed towards the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and aligned to the die for picking of the die from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit, and wherein, when the pickup head is in the release position, the pickup head is directed away from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and directed towards the bonding surface of the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit.

12. The method as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising

turning over, via a pickup head of a first pick-and-move unit of the die transfer module, the die with respect to an original orientation of the die on the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit when the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit moves the die from a pickup position of the first pick-and-move unit to a release position of the first pick-and-move unit; and

turning over, via a pickup head of a second pick-and-move unit of the die transfer module, the die subsequently with respect to the diced wafer when the pickup head of the second pick-and-move unit moves the die from a pickup position of the second pick-and-move unit to a release position of the second pick-and-move unit in a manner so as to return the die back with respect to the diced wafer such that the orientation of the die at the release position of the second pick-and-move unit with respect to the diced wafer corresponds to the original orientation of the die when the die is on the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit,

wherein, when the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit is in the pickup position of the first pick-and-move unit, the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit is directed towards the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and aligned to the die for picking up of the die from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit,

wherein, when the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit is in the release position of the first pick-and-move unit, the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit is directed away from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and directed towards the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit,

wherein, when the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit is in the release position of the first pick-and-move unit and the pickup head of the second pick-and-move unit is in the pickup position of the second pick-and-move unit, the pickup head of the second pick-and-move unit is directed towards the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and aligned to the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit,

wherein, when the pickup head of the second pick-and-move unit is in the release position of the second pick-and-move unit, the pickup head of the second pick-and-move unit is directed away from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and directed towards the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit.

13. A method of bonding a plurality of dies to a carrier panel with a die bonder, comprising

picking a die, via a die transfer module of the die bonder, from a diced wafer held by a wafer feed unit of the die bonder having a wafer holder holding the diced wafer in a manner so as to space the diced wafer apart from a carrier panel held by a carrier support unit of the die bonder and orient the diced wafer with an exposed surface of the diced wafer facing a bonding surface of the carrier panel;

placing the die, via the die transfer module, on the bonding surface of the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit for bonding the die to the bonding surface of the carrier panel, and

moving the carrier support unit along a carrier-movement plane parallel to the carrier panel based on determination of a position of the die picked up by the die transfer module with respect to a target placement location on the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit to align the target placement location on the carrier panel and the die picked up by the die transfer module,

wherein the die transfer module is disposed between the carrier support unit and the wafer feed unit.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising

turning over, via a pickup head of the die transfer module, the die with respect to an original orientation of the die on the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit as the pickup head is moved from a pickup position to a release position,

wherein, when the pickup head is in the pickup position, the pickup head is directed towards the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and aligned to the die for picking of the die from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit, and wherein, when the pickup head is in the release position, the pickup head is directed away from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and directed towards the bonding surface of the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit.

15. The method as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising

turning over, via a pickup head of a first pick-and-move unit of the die transfer module, the die with respect to an original orientation of the die on the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit when the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit moves the die from a pickup position of the first pick-and-move unit to a release position of the first pick-and-move unit; and

turning over, via a pickup head of a second pick-and-move unit of the die transfer module, the die subsequently with respect to the diced wafer when the pickup head of the second pick-and-move unit moves the die from a pickup position of the second pick-and-move unit to a release position of the second pick-and-move unit in a manner so as to return the die back with respect to the diced wafer such that the orientation of the die at the release position of the second pick-and-move unit with respect to the diced wafer corresponds to the original orientation of the die when the die is on the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit,

wherein, when the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit is in the pickup position of the first pick-and-move unit, the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit is directed towards the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and aligned to the die for picking up of the die from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit,

wherein, when the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit is in the release position of the first pick-and-move unit, the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit is directed away from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and directed towards the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit,

wherein, when the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit is in the release position of the first pick-and-move unit and the pickup head of the second pick-and-move unit is in the pickup position of the second pick-and-move unit, the pickup head of the second pick-and-move unit is directed towards the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and aligned to the pickup head of the first pick-and-move unit,

wherein, when the pickup head of the second pick-and-move unit is in the release position of the second pick-and-move unit, the pickup head of the second pick-and-move unit is directed away from the diced wafer held by the wafer feed unit and directed towards the carrier panel held by the carrier support unit.