Sikama Solutions: University of California, Los Angeles

The Customer


University of California, Los Angeles | Los Angeles, California
UCLA Center for Heterogeneous Integration and Performance Scaling (CHIPS)

Mission Statement: “Interpret and implement Moore’s Law to include all aspects of heterogeneous systems and develop architectures, methodologies, designs, components, materials and manufacturable integration schemes, that will shrink system footprint and improve power and performance.”

The Challenge


UCLA CHIPS needed a reflow solution for their advanced packaging solder applications. They were using a general purpose nitrogen oven, but the temperature ramp rates were too slow, causing thermally sensitive materials to be exposed to high temperatures for too long. This reduced packaging reliability, accelerating time to failure.

The Solution


UCLA CHIPS purchased a Sikama Falcon 5C reflow oven for its easily programmable temperature zones, option for nitrogen flow, and space-efficient footprint.

The Benefit


“Students at UCLA CHIPS have been able to advance their research in cutting-edge advanced packaging with the new capability of reflow assembly, improving package reliability and minimizing uncertainty when exploring novel assembly approaches.”

– Randall Irwin
Ph.D. Candidate
Depeartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering