Hesse & Knipps to Introduce Wire Bonder for Solar Market

San Jose, CA, July 16, 2008 - Hesse & Knipps, leading manufacturer of high-speed, fine pitch wedge bonders for the back-end semiconductor industry, announces that it will soon introduce a new wire bonder dedicated to the needs of the solar market in producing CPV (concentrated photovoltaic) cells.

The new BondJet 820 CPV will offer all of the advanced features of the company's Bondjet BJ 820 wedge bonder, in addition to an extended table travel of 900mm x 350mm and expanded X axis travel via the use of intelligent automation.
The BONDJET BJ820 platform is an industry benchmark for wire bonding, offering the fastest wiring speed, largest work area and greatest axis accuracy available.

Other significant machine capabilities include:

• 12.5μm to 85μm diameter wire bonding
• Ribbon bonding from 6μm x 35μm to 25μm x 250μm
• Constant loop height and wire length
• Maintains parallel loops within mixed reference system
• Auto teach for linear applications, reducing programming time

"The bonding speed and flexibility of the 820 platform, coupled with the extended bonding area, will lend itself very well to the CPV marketplace as well as other markets requiring such extended travels," states Joseph S. Bubel, president of Hesse & Knipps, Inc.