Jet-Flow Scavenging of a Curing Oven—Part I: Flow Visualization

Abstract

A curing oven that is commonly used in microelectronic manufacturing has been analyzed to determine the causes of contamination of parts passing through the oven, and to eliminate this contamination. During the curing of microelectronic chip packages, a volatile component contained in the bonding epoxy is released as a vapor. This vapor is usually removed (scavenged) by blowing a process gas through jets. However, some condensation of this vapor may (and often does) occur on the chips, contaminating them and rendering them functionally useless. It is desirable to completely eliminate this condensation. This paper presents a flow visualization study of the complicated flow patterns within the oven created by the jet-flows. Vortices are produced due to jet interactions. These vortices inhibit scavenging (entrainment and removal) of the contaminant vapor and are undesirable. A new design that eliminates the vortices and enhances the scavenging is described. In Part II of this study, a numerical simulation of the process is described.