Palomar Technologies Places Palomar 9000 Wedge

Palomar Technologies, a in delivering total process solutions for advanced photonics and microelectronic device packaging, has announced that Bay Photonics, an advanced photonics assembly, and packaging company has taken delivery of a Palomar 9000 Wedge Bonder as a requirement for meeting the demands for wedge-to-wedge bonding by their customers.

“Over the past years, we’ve needed to migrate away from older technology platforms and the Palomar 9000 offers us a machine with better performance and reliability that is capable of high-volume throughput,” said Glenn George, CEO of Bay Photonics. “We’re placing the 9000 in our laboratories within the EPIC-Center, which along with a range of other Palomar machines, enables us to satisfy some of our more stringent customer needs. Plus, this gives them the confidence that their device has been designed for manufacture.”

Bay Photonics will initially use the 9000 Wedge Bonder for several advanced photonics applications, including unique secure space communications technologies, along with high-end nuclear power station solutions. Wedge bonding enables bonding with a large variety of wire and ribbon materials, such as gold and aluminum enabling thermosonic and ambient processes, which makes wedge bonding an ideal bonding choice for high-mix environments.

The Palomar 9000 Wedge Bonder is a high-speed fine wire and ribbon wedge bonder driven by voice-coil technology in the bond head. This machine has interchangeable 45-60° and 90° deep access wire feed and wedge clamp options and operates across a single large 304 x 152 mm work area. As the entire bond head mechanism rides on a theta axis, users can take advantage of excellent wire tension, a shorter wire feed path and inherent prevention of twisting of wire and ribbon, and better overall process control.

It’s frequently used for these opto-electronic/photonics applications:

• Deep Access Packages
• Constrained Access Package Walls
• High Bit Rate Modulators
• Optical Transceivers

Other applications that the Palomar 9000 Wedge Bonder is used for include:

• RF-SOE
• Disk drives
• Large complex hybrids
• COB
• RF and microwave devices
• Compact hybrids
• Fine pitch devices
• Low profile wire bonds
• Ribbon bonding
• MCM power connections