Design and fabrication of an IC encapsulation mold adhesion force tester

In integrated circuit (IC) packaging, when epoxy molding compound (EMC) is filling the mold cavity and cured in the mold, adhesion occurs in the interface between EMC and mold surface. Too large an adhesion force can damage an IC and lower the yield rate. However, there was no report showing how to measure the mold adhesion force. This paper described the design and fabrication of an automatic EMC adhesion force test instrument that will measure adhesion force between mold surface and EMC. By measuring the adhesion force, one can judge how much does a specific type of surface treatment help in reducing the amount of mold adhesion force. One can also use this instrument to determine what parameters are important for reducing the magnitude of adhesion force between EMC and mold surface.