Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1323994
44 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2021 Article By Glenn Farris UNIVERSAL INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION Abstract An emerging trend in the automotive indus- try is the adoption of advanced LED headlamp lighting systems. These systems drive challeng- ing placement requirements for LED Packages. In this paper, we will review these unique chal- lenges and discuss a novel approach to high- accuracy placement of LED packages enabling a scalable production solution. Drivers LED lighting technology for automotive headlamp applications provides improved safety and lighting intelligence. LED automo- tive headlamps are becoming the standard for even the most affordable automobiles and the automotive LED market is expected to reach $3B by 2022. Challenges LED automotive headlamps and emerging applications like LIDAR are complex, requiring ultra-precise assembly to achieve extreme per- formance standards. High-accuracy placement and exact LED alignment are essential in build- ing brighter and more adaptive (color, direc- tion, intensity) LED automotive headlamps. Some of the manufacturing challenges of rapidly and accurately placing LEDs include: • Requirements for accurate top-side vision correction • Need for high throughput at 10–25µm accuracy • Non-standard fiducials • Need for material, process, and application know-how The most effective way to achieve this is to utilize a top-side alignment (TAP) process for placement of LEDs. Top-Side Alignment Top-side alignment process (TAP) ensures an accurate, repeatable, high-speed and eco- nomical production solution for the placement of LEDs. The TAP process precisely places and aligns LEDs based on top-side features. A top- side inspection of LED (light-emitting diode) features is performed on a back-lit vacuum Building A Better, Brighter LED Headlamp with Top-Side Alignment (TAP)