Fremont, California, November 2015 – Hesse Mechatronics, Inc., the Americas subsidiary of Hesse GmbH, world leader in wedge wire bonding technology for power, automotive, medical, aerospace, RF, microwave, opto, military and consumer electronics, announces that the company recently partnered with North Carolina State University to develop packaging of wide bandgap (WBG) power devices. 

Hesse Mechatronics, in support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Power America initiative, has partnered with North Carolina State University’s FREEDM Systems Center to develop packaging of wide bandgap power devices. Under the direction of Dr. Douglas Hopkins of NC State and Mike McKeown of Hesse Mechatronics, Hesse Mechatronics has installed a Bondjet BJ939 Heavy Wire and Ribbon Wedge Bonder in the PREES Laboratory on the NC State campus in Raleigh, NC. A team of Ph.D. graduate students including Adam Morgan, Xin Zhao, and Haotao Ke is driving the research.

The Bondjet BJ939 was selected for wide bandgap power device research because of its versatility with both heavy aluminum and copper wires and heavy ribbon sizes.  This same bonder is used by many other power module companies throughout the world. Dr. Hopkins notes that “WBG devices are challenging to bond because developers are continually re-optimizing metallization materials and thicknesses on thicker and thicker Epi, for example on 12kV SiC. The BJ939 is essential because of its high levels of automation and repeatability with precise parameter tracking.”

To view a video displaying heavy aluminum wire bonding onto wide bandgap power devices and other wire bond videos, please contact Mike McKeown at michael.mckeown@hesse-mechatronics.us. 

About Hesse Mechatronics

Hesse Mechatronics, a privately held worldwide company based in Paderborn, Germany, is a leading designer and manufacturer of high speed fine pitch wedge bonders, heavy wire bonders and complementary equipment for semiconductor backend assembly. The company’s automatic wedge bonders handle both light and heavy wire applications with aluminum and gold round wire from 12.5 micron (.0005) to 500 microns (.020) in diameter, in addition to ribbon wire from 6 x 35 microns up to .3 x 2 mm, including HCR™ (High Current Ribbon); their heavy wire wedge bonder models also handle copper wire and ribbon. The company’s product line also includes dispensers, ultrasonic flip chip bonders, standard or customized indexers with or without handling systems, manufacturing process monitoring systems for interfacing with the company’s equipment and commercial software packages.

For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.hesse-mechatronics.com.

About FREEDM System Center

The FREEDM Systems Center is a collaboration of universities proposing a smart-grid paradigm shift that will enable the U.S. to take advantage of advances in renewable energy for a secure and sustainable future. The FREEDM Systems Center will realize its ERC (Engineering Research Center) initiative through breakthroughs in fundamental research and enabling technology development. Learn more at www.freedm.ncsu.edu.

About PREES Laboratory

The Laboratory for Packaging Research in Electronic Energy Systems (PREES) at North Carolina State University is part of the FREEDM Systems Center. PREES provides a complete power electronics design and packaging environment for education and research. Undergraduate technicians work and train in the lab to support graduate student research.

Recent PREES focus is on high-frequency, high-density packaging of GaN and SiC power devices, modules and circuits for application to electric vehicle drives, PV supplies, and smart grid components, such as the solid state transformer. Lab capabilities include multiphysics modeling, PWB, flex and DBC patterning, flip-chip and Ag-sinter die attach, Al & Cu wire and ribbon interconnect, 3D printed moldings and housings, and encapsulation to 25kV. Learn more at www.PREES.org.