lambda technologies variable frequency microwave adopted by polymer flip chip

Lambda Technologies announced that their Variable Frequency Microwave (VFM) process has completed qualification and production acceptance at Polymer Flip Chip Corporation, of Billerica, Mass. Following a six-month joint evaluation project, Polymer Flip Chip has purchased a Lambda Technologies MicroCure 5100-2000 VFM system to cure both the polymer bumps and underfill encapsulants on their flip chip-based RFID and Smart Card products. VFM is Lambda Technologies' patented technology for the rapid and selective curing of polymer adhesives. Dr. Richard Estes, President & CEO of Polymer Flip Chip, said, "The VFM process reduced our bump cure time from two hours in a conventional oven to only four minutes. The reduction in underfill cure time is even more dramatic. Since the low temperature flexible substrates used in RFID products cannot withstand the typically high cure temperatures of convection processes, underfill cure in convection ovens takes as long as eight to ten hours. But with VFM's selective heating, the process was reduced to only five to six minutes." VFM makes economic sense as well, according to Estes, with cost savings in energy and space utilization, plus a significant reduction in the cost of pallets that would typically be tied up in convection ovens. Estes added that VFM will make it possible for his company to expand from their current palletized process to a continuous-flow, reel-to-reel manufacturing line, to meet the growing demand for Polymer Flip Chip's proprietary RFID and Smart Card products.