The Mini LED market has experienced remarkable growth since 2023, with numerous new production projects underway. Many industry leaders are predicting a substantial boom in the Mini LED sector.
TrendForce (GGII) forecasts that the global Mini LED market will reach $5.3 billion by 2025, driven by a remarkable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 85%.
Despite this rapid market expansion, cost barriers are hindering the widespread adoption of Mini LED technology. Therefore, the industry’s critical task is to lower costs and boost efficiency.
LED die bonders are essential equipment in the Mini LED industry and are at the core of this cost-reduction effort. These machines, which are primarily used in the die bonding process during packaging, remove chips from the blue film and transfer them to the solder pads of the substrate. This process presents significant opportunities for optimizing both cost and efficiency.
Driving Innovation at the 2023 GGLED Display Industry Summit
The 2023 GGLED Display Industry Summit Forum and the “2023 Display Industry TOP 50 Award Ceremony” were held on June 28 at the Hyatt Hotel in Shenzhen Airport. Under the theme “Driving Industrial Breakthroughs and Opening a New Era of Applications,” the forum brought together experts from various sectors of the display industry, including chips, packaging devices, displays, and key supporting materials.
Promoting Mass Production with Advanced Die Bonding Equipment
During the opening ceremony, Wang Jihu, R&D Director of Wanfuda, delivered a keynote speech titled “Promoting Mass Production of Mini LED with High-Speed and High-Precision Die Bonding Equipment.” His presentation covered several key areas, including Wanfuda’s Mini LED die bonders, fully automatic die bonding station production lines, and the unique benefits of Wanfuda’s die bonding equipment.
Wanfuda‘s Focus on Innovative Die Bonders
Wanfuda has concentrated its efforts on the independent research, development, and sales of Mini LED die bonders, semiconductor die bonders, and related equipment. The company holds over 20 patents for die-bonding machines and offers a range of Mini LED die bonding devices, including the WFD8960B, WFD9000A, WFD8970B, and WFD8000A.
WFD8960B Solid Crystal Machine
Among Wanfuda’s product lineup, the WFD8960B stands out with its exceptional post-bonding position accuracy of XY < ±15 micrometers and angle accuracy of θ < ±1°. It boasts a testing capacity of 40K per hour, making it ideal for die bonding in Mini LED backlights or direct-view products. The machine accommodates chip sizes from 2 to 40 mil and offers customizable substrate dimensions up to 500mm in width and 600mm in length.
High-Precision Solutions for Large-Scale Production
The WFD9000A is specifically designed for the die bonding of large-sized backlight products, featuring similar positional and angular accuracy to the WFD8960B but with a doubled testing capacity of 80K per hour. It supports consistent chip sizes and larger substrates, measuring up to 700mm in width and 1400mm in length.
Enhanced Capabilities for Ultra-Fine Pitch Products
The WFD8970B caters to ultra-fine pitch products down to P0.4, maintaining the same precision and testing capacity as the WFD9000A, with customizable substrate sizes up to 220mm in width and 260mm in length.
The Cutting-Edge WFD8000A
The newest addition, the WFD8000A, improves upon the WFD8970B by reaching a full testing capacity of 105K per hour. It maintains high positional accuracy and features a patented high-speed automatic die change ring that enables die changes within 5 seconds. This machine also introduces a precision-focused die bonding platform, a high-speed transfer tool, and a three-layer substrate buffer mechanism at the feeding end. It can handle up to nine layers of die change rings and supports both equidistant and non-equidistant mixed-bonding processes.
Expanding the Product Line for Full Automation
This year, Wanfuda has expanded its product line to include the Mini LED fully automatic die bonding station production line and the Mini LED front-end process fully automatic production line, with the former being its flagship product.
Wang Jihu, Wanfuda’s R&D Director, emphasized the issues faced by direct-view products using mixed-bonding processes, such as uneven brightness. To address this, most manufacturers use a series-parallel mixed binning method. However, this can extend the online time for substrates, affect the activity of solder paste, and reduce die bonding yield. Additionally, if one piece of equipment requires maintenance, it could halt the entire production line, significantly reducing production efficiency. To resolve this, Wanfuda introduced a parallel mixed binning process. This approach aims to shorten the online time for substrates, provide better conditions for solder paste, maintain operations during individual machine maintenance, increase unit output through parallel production, and support large-scale production.
Strategic Recommendations for Optimal Efficiency
Based on these findings, Jihu advised, “For fewer than six machines, use a series connection; for more than six, use a parallel connection.” For example, with an 18-machine parallel line configuration of the WFD8970B, the full testing capacity (units per hour or UPH) can reach an impressive 1,350K, factoring in PR, bottom-side die placement, and post-bonding inspection.
A Focus on Intelligent Die Bonding Stations
Regarding the Mini LED front-end process fully automatic production line, Wanfuda’s primary focus is on developing intelligent die bonding stations. The company is committed to innovation and breakthroughs to improve customer production efficiency and die bonding yield, with a goal of achieving a PPM below 10. Reaching this high first-pass yield necessitates collaboration, so Wanfuda works with customers, upstream and downstream partners, and even friendly competitors to enhance the first-pass yield across the entire line. The company has also co-developed a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) for the front-end process with its customers to achieve fully automated, intelligent production.
Unique Advantages of Wanfuda’s Die Bonding Machines
Compared to other die-bonding machines on the market, Wanfuda’s products offer seven key advantages:
- Higher die bonding position accuracy in XY.
- Superior die bonding angle accuracy.
- Greater effective production capacity per machine, reducing manpower, resources, and space.
- A swing arm suction nozzle that can rotate 360°.
- Ability to achieve near needleless die printing.
- Support for two automatic chip polarity detection methods using bottom-side vision for hard-to-discern chips.
- An efficient mixed-bonding process algorithm.
Comprehensive Support and Mass Production Success
Wanfuda not only offers a broad range of high-quality products but also provides reliable after-sales support. Their professional team is available for 24-hour on-site service. Thanks to these comprehensive competitive advantages, Jihu revealed that Wanfuda’s die bonders have entered mass production, delivering around 50 to 100 units per month.
Information Source: GGLED
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