Encapsulation of Microelectronic Components Using Open-Ended Microwave Oven

An open-ended microwave oven system is presented and characterized for the rapid encapsulation of microelectronic components. In situ real-time measurement of the temperature of the curing materials is carried out by an infrared pyrometer integrated in the microwave head of the oven. An automatic computer-controlled closed feedback loop has been used to measure the temperature in the curing material and modulate the system operating power to obtain predefined curing temperature cycles for efficient curing. Uniform curing of the encapsulant material is achieved with typical cure time of similar to 300 s with a ramp rate of 1.66 degrees C/s and a hold period of similar to 100 s. Differential scanning calorimeter based measurement for the curing of the polymer dielectric indicates a near 100% degree of cure.