What is fine-pitch coplanarity?
In layman’s terms, it’s the extent to which IC leads stay straight – and therefore the same length – while being handled, programmed and labeled. Thin, delicate leads are easily bent, especially when handled by human hands, which often results in defective parts. Failure rates as low as 1% can still result in unacceptable financial losses for device programming houses, especially since fine-pitch devices (logic, memory, or microcontroller) are more expensive than their more rugged predecessors. In order for the fine-pitch wave to continue rising, device programmers will need new technology that will help deliver fine-pitch ICs to their downstream customers. An analogy illustrates the problem: imagine that egg farmers developed a new egg that tasted much better than before, with less cholesterol. The catch? Unfortunately, the egg shells are only one-third as thick, so they tend to break more easily. Having developed a more desirable product, the producers only lack packaging and handlin
