I.

Introduction
1.1 Objectives
The APHY 198 Practicum aims to prepare senior BS Applied Physics students in their
future career paths. The students can choose to be an intern of a research agency or an
industrial company. During their stay in the institution, they will most probably encounter
equipment and machinery not available in the university. With their theoretical
understanding of the concepts behind the basic operation of scientific instruments, the
students are expected to learn new skill sets relevant to their degree.
Another goal of this internship is to expose the students to a working environment
different from your typical classroom. They will be working under a supervisor and with
experienced colleagues; dealing with deadlines and rush jobs; and experience working
eight to ten hours a day.
1.2 Place and Duration of Practicum
This practicum was held in the Design and Development Engineering Department of
Excelitas Technologies Corporation. To accomplish the required 144-hour stay in the
company, I worked nine hours a day from June 22 to July 16, 2014. The intern worked a
total of 159 hours in the company.

Figure 1

Excelitas Technologies Corporation located in 3 Ampere St. Light

Industry Science Park 1, Cabuyao, Laguna [1]

II.

Company Profile

2.1 Historical Background

The company was started in Boston, Massachusetts by some MIT Professors in
1931. After the Second World War, EG&G was incorporated and since then the company
acquired many different divisions: GE/RCA Electro-Optics Division, inventor of high
performance solid - state detectors and laser emitters; Reticon, a leader in CCD Imaging;
HeimannOpto-electronics, provider of state-of-the art flash lamps, photocells, thermopiles,
and pyroelectric detectors; Vactec, an innovator in low-cost photodiodes and photocells
and Lumen Technologies, known for CW Xenon lighting, flash lamps and aerospacequalified lighting. For the past 80 years, the company evolved into being an institution of
superior technological advancement specializing in lighting and detection [2].
In 1999, the company bought the Analytical Instrument division of PerkinElmer. The
company then adapted the name PerkinElmer Optoelectronics. In late 2010, that same
division was bought by Veritas Capital for an estimated value of 500M US dollars. The
name Excelitas Technologies was then launched on the same year [2].
Presently, the company is organized into three business entities: Lighting, Detection
and Advanced Electronic Systems [2]. The company has 12 manufacturing sites and
seven sales offices all around the globe.
The Manila site is located in 3 Ampere St. Light Industry Science Park 1, Cabuyao,
Laguna. It has a floor area of 5000 square meters and a total number of 397 employees.
The Manila site specializes in Detection and produces different sensor products such as:
photodiodes, photodiode arrays, phototransistors, infra-red emitters, high performance
sensors and sensor hybrid assemblies [1]
2.2 Hierarchical Background
Excelitas Technologies Corporation is a globally recognized company with 12
manufacturing sites and seven sales offices all over the world. The corporate
headquarters is located in Waltham, Massachusetts and is spearheaded by CEO David
Nislick. The company has three business units: Lighting, Detection and Advanced
Electronics Systems. The figure below shows the international organizational set-up of
the company [2].

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Organizational set-up of the Excelitas Tescnologies Corporation [2]

The site in the Philippines is under the Detection division. The organizational set-up
of the Manila site is shown in the figure below.
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Figure 3

Hierachical chart showing the dynamics in the Manila Site of Excelitas

Technologies Corporation

2.3 Laboratory Description and Location Map

The Manila site is located at 3 Ampere St. Light Industry and Science Park 1,
Cabuyao, Laguna, Philippines. It is a building with three floors of production lines dubbed
Modules (ground level), Leadframes (second floor) and Headers (third floor).
The Headers section is where new products are manufactured by the engineers
belonging to the Design and Development Engineering (DDE) department. The
Leadframes section is where existing and established products are manufactured,
improved and tested. The product assembly takes place in the Modules section.

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Figure 4

Digital sketch showing the location of Excelitas Technologies, taken from

Google satellite maps

Figure 5

Floor plan of the third floor of Excelitas Technologies, the arrow points to the
location of the assigned department office

The activities done by the interns are not limited in the third floor production area,
they are also given tasks on the second and ground level production areas.
2.4 Nature of Products

The main products manufactured in the Manila site are under the detection business
unit of Excelitas Technologies. The table below summarizes the product information of
said products.

Product
Photonic Detectors

Description

Laser diodes often used in distance and phase shift

range finding systems [4]
Photodiodes have very high dark resistance; often used
for industrial and commercial applications [4]
Infrared Emitter diodes used for smoke detector
applications [4]
Phototransistor have very high gains and very fast
response time [4]
Thermal Infrared Detectors

Surface Mount Detectors (SMD) Pyroelectric Detectors

and SMD Thermopile Detectors devices suited for high
volume production of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB); very
small in size and has compact design; main applications
include automatic light switching, presence detection, home
security, energy conserving home appliances and gesture
recognition [5]

2.5 Processing/ Manufacturing Operations

The products being developed by Excelitas Technologies are manufactured using a
process called semiconductor device fabrication. Generally, it involves a multiple-step
sequence wherein electronic components are designed on a semiconducting wafer. The

table below summarizes the manufacturing processes and operations conducted during
production.

Procedure
Wafer Testing

Description
A step to detect defects on the semiconductor material before

Sawing

being assembled to electronic components

A step wherein the wafer is sawed into its corresponding parts

Demounting

called die
Using a wafer demounting device, the prepared die are attached to

Wire Bonding

metal leadframes
Step performed to create interconnections between the

Casting
Trimming

semiconducting device and another metallic surface

Coating the metal leadframe with protective layer
Cutting leads into corresponding lengths (for distinction of positive

Solder Dipping

and negative terminals)

Process wherein the electronic material is soldered into a PCB;

Thermal Testing

Hot tin wets are the commonly used material in this step
This is done to assess if the device can withstand extreme

Visual Inspection

temperatures
This step is done to assure that the device has no visible defects

Singulation

like cracks, contamination and scratches

Step done to separate the products that passed the visual

Electrical Testing

inspection
This process is done using customized testers to measure the
relevant parameters like power output and irradiance

2.6 Hygiene, Sanitation and Environmental Quality Control

As a global technology leader specializing in various optoelectronics, Excelitas
Technologies Corporation prioritizes the safety and health of its employees and the
surrounding community. It follows an extensive Environment Health and Safety (EHS)
approach to minimize accidents and to efficiently use and manage resources [3].
All employees are given smocks (protective laboratory gown with hood) and white
company shoes. The company shoes are worn inside the building only. Street shoes and
other footwear are not allowed inside the premises. The shoes are worn with socks and
should be worn at all times within the production line [3].

While wearing the company issued gown-type hooded smocks, employees are not
allowed to wear cosmetics (face powder, lipstick, etc.) because it could lead to the
comtamination of electrical components. Jewelries are also strongly discouraged while
working inside the production line. The smocks should not be worn in conference rooms,
cafeteria, rest rooms, clinic and lobby [3].
The smocks are worn such that the following guidelines are met:

No exposed hair strands

Face mask, if required, covers nose and mouth
Zippered till the neck line
Unfolded sleeves
No ID cards outside smock
No clothing worn over the smock
No things inside the built-in bag

Figure 6

III.

Proper way of wearing company issued apparel

Activities Performed During Practicum

Some of the main activities the interns are given are Measurement system analysis of
product testers, visual inspection of products, Documentation of defects, Measurement of
electrical parameters of devices and studying the LabView software. Tables 1 through 4
summarizes the activities conducted during my internship in the company

Table 1. Activities done during Week 1 (June 22 June 26 2015)

Date
06-22-2015

Activity/ Goal
New Employee Orientation

Details
Discussion of Company Overview, Clinical Lectures,

Program for Interns

Major Initiatives of the company, Company rules and

Visual inspection of laser diodes

regulations
Visual inspection of caps of newly manufactured
laser diodes via optical microscope; cleaning caps

06-23-2015

Visual inspection of laser diodes

using blow gun (200 units)

Visual inspection via optical microscope; cleaning

LabView Session

caps using blow gun (200 units)

LabView Introductory Lectures (Chapters 1, 2);
LabView is a software that enables engineers to

06-24-2015

Transferring laser diodes units to

create virtual instruments

Laser diodes are electrically sensitive devices, the

shipping containers

use of electron static discharge (ESD) bracelets is

Unwinding block component

required; Initial visual inspection of 40 units

Use of specialized equipment to transfer tape reels

carrier (1400 units)

Weekly Teleconference

to appropriate container; documentation of process

Teleconference with Montreal branch; Discussion of
the ongoing projects, updates, problems

Line tour c/o by outgoing OJTs

encountered, customer feedback

Tour around the production line; sharing of advices

LabView Session

and experiences
Exercises on creating, editing and debugging virtual

Office Work
Measurement of dimensions of

instruments (Vis)
Materials Issuance of face masks and tape
Use of digital caliper to measure the thickness of

semiconductor wafer chips

semiconductor wafer chips; documentation of

06-25-2015

06-26-2015

Environment, Health and Safety

process
Discussion of company records regarding EHS;

(EHS) Lecture

conducted by supervising DDE engineer; tour around

LabView Session

production
Exercise on creating icons and connectors in VI;

Matching cavities

using Vis as subVIs

Matching body and lid of specialized containers (144

Office work
Measurement of dimensions of

units)
Materials Issuance of office supplies
Using specialized equipment to measure dimensions

semiconductor wafer chips

LabView session

of a component of semicon wafer chips (35 units)

Exercise on Loops and Charts; using while loop and

Power Output Measurement

waveform chart to acquire data in real time

Measuring power output of plastic laser diodes (112

Product testing

units) using specialized equipment

Product testing of semicon wafer chips using

Power Output Measurement

specialized equipment (45 units)

Measuring power output of metal can laser diodes
(123 units) using specialized equipment

Table 2. Activities done during Week 2 (June 29 July 3, 2015)

Date
06-29-2015

Activity/ Goal
LabView Session

Details
Exercise on Loops and Charts; using shift registers
to perform a running average; building VIs that
displays 2 random plots on a waveform chart in
sweep update mode
Cap assembly component insertion into chambers

Assembly and Testing of smoke

detectors

Testing observing response of components to

simulated smoke signals; observing response of

06-30-15

Office work
Handling laser diodes

components to empty chamber units (172 units)

Materials Issuance of unit containers
Serializing and putting units in appropriate containers

Testing Infrared smoke detector

(85 units)
Using specialized PC-based specialized equipment

components

to measure angular response of the units (Bin 1 and

Final Product testing

2)
Product testing of semicon wafer chips using

Testing Infrared smoke detector

specialized equipment (45 units)

Using specialized PC-based specialized equipment

components

to measure angular response of the units (Bin 3A, 3B

07-02-2015

LabView Session
Testing of Oximeters

and 4A)
Continuation of exercises on Loops and Charts
Measurement of Power output using PC-based

07-03-2015

LabView Session

specialized equipment (10 units)

Exercise on Strings and File I/O; to create a subVI

07-01-2015

utilizing the Format into String, Concatenate string,

Handling laser diodes

String Length functions

Serializing and putting units in appropriate containers

Assembly of smoke detectors

(114 units)
Insertion of components using specialized
equipment; Curing of units; Auto-trimming of units;
Temporary serialization (147 units)

Table 3. Activities done during Week 3 (July 06 July 10, 2015)

Date
07-06-2015

Activity/ Goal

Details

Assembly and Testing of smoke

Auto trimming of component detectors (35 units)

detectors
Testing observing response of components to
simulated smoke signals; observing response of
components to empty chamber units (172 units)

07-07-15

Matching of cap and chamber parts (172 units)

Detailed discussion of the products and projects

Lecture

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currently being developed/ produced by the

company
Study session of acceptability of printed boards,

Study session

discussion of surface imperfections, subsurface

imperfections, imperfections on conductive pattern,
hole characteristics, markings anomalies, solder
resist surface coating imperfections and

07-08-2015

07-09-2015
07-10-2015

Dimension measurements

dimensional characteristics
X-ray crystals dimension measurements using

Product testing
Product testing
Dimension measurements

specialized equipment
Testing FPGA boards using specialized equipment
Testing oximeters using specialized equipment
Photodiode dimension measurements using

Product testing
Analysis of Reliability of Product

specialized equipment
Testing FPGA boards using specialized equipment
Repeated random testing of Surface mount

testers

detector units to analyze factors affecting product

Dimension measurements

performance
X-ray crystals dimension measurements using

specialized equipment
Did not report due to unfavorable weather conditions
Product testing
Analysis of Reliability of Product

Testing FPGA boards using specialized equipment

Repeated random testing of FPGA board units to

testers
Documentation

analyze factors affecting product performance

Documentation of production defects of surface
mount detector units

Table 4. Activities done during Week 4 (July 13 July 16, 2015)

Date

Activity/ Goal

Details

07-13-2015

Visual inspection

Visual inspection of caps of newly manufactured

laser diodes via optical microscope; cleaning caps

Data processing

using blow gun (400 units)

Consolidation of data for photodiode testing;

Reliability measurements

measurement system analysis of testers

Testing oximeter units using specialized instrument
(10 units)

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07-14-15

Product testing

Testing Surface Mount Detector units using

LabView session

specialized instrument (45 units)

Discussion on project development process of

Measurement System Analysis

virtual instruments using LabView interface

Testing Surface Mount Detector units using
specialized instrument (50 units)

Three different operators performed the testing of

07-15-2015

Power Output Measurement

units; the MSA was done for three trials

The PO of the blue LED component of smoke
detectors were measured using customized tester
(140 units)
Using customized PC-based tester, the irradiance

Irradiance Test

of blue LED components were measured (140

07-16-2015

Documentation of Laser Diode

units)
Using low power optical microscope, the product

Defects

defects of laser diodes were identified and

Final Visual Inspection

documented (25 units)

Using low power optical microscope, Final visual
inspection of laser diode units was done. The
diode caps were inspected and good units were
separated from those with defects (60 units)
Using low power microscope, the defects of

Visual Inspection

Surface Mount Detectors produced using old

machine was identified; units were sorted and
separated according to product defect (40 units)

IV.

Problems Encountered and Solutions

Even in a well-operated industrial company, unavoidable incidents can lead to delays
in production and accidents. One of the problems we encountered during our stay is when
we were performing tests of FPGA boards and the tester we were using is not yet fully
developed. Because the project is still at its early age of development, the tester we were
using is not as reliable as the customized testers used in other projects. Because we

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were still inexperienced in handling technical errors in the tester software, our task was
delayed for a few hours. It was a critical task because the client is actually waiting for the
sample units to be shipped on that day. We also have had difficulties when we were
assigned in the evaluation of smoke detector product rejects. The testers we were using
were unavailable then so we had to wait for the maintenance and calibration personnel to
restore the software and hardware. Other than these minor inconveniences, the interns
did not really encounter major problems in their practicum. The supervisors are also
always available for consultation and they never fail to give sound advice and assistance.
V.

Conclusion and Recommendation

At the end of the practicum, the interns learned many practical skills that can be
applied to their future careers. Good work habits and work relationships were also
developed during their stay in the company. For future UPLB BS Applied Physics interns
who considers taking their practicum in the Excelitas Technologies, it is recommended
that they always ask questions and to not hesitate to ask for help among the operators
and engineers. It is important to know what the purpose of the task assigned to you.
Knowing these things will enable interns to appreciate and understand the importance of
the activities assigned to them. When using equipment and machineries that are new and
unfamiliar, it is critical to always read the labels, warnings and flags.

VI.

References
[1] Manila Overview slides, powerpoint presentation, from the New Employees
Orientation Program (NEOP) lectures
[2] New Hire Orientation slides, powerpoint presentation, from the New Employees
Orientation Program (NEOP) lectures
[3] Apparel Implementation slides, powerpoint presentation, from the New Employees
Orientation Program (NEOP) lectures
[4] http://www.excelitas.com/Downloads/CAT_PhotonDetection.pdf
[5] http://www.excelitas.com/Pages/Product/Thermal-Infrared-Detectors.aspx

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