Very interesting stuff from an Ebay seller (Agilent die!)

[Jwalling]

Have a look at this sellers stuff:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_ssn=svmtechnology&item=253478990100&_osacat=0&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.XDIE.TRS0&_nkw=DIE&_sacat=0

I'm very curious as to who this is, where they got this stuff, and what equipment they go in! Anybody?

[mikeselectricstuff]

Probably a company that makes RF hybrid modules.
Seller is pretty delusional on pricing though.

[TheSteve]

Or they bought a collection of dies from the Keysight fire sale in California. It seems nearly everything that was in the building is for sale even though a lot of it should have been crushed.

[james_s]

Those are interesting, but what on earth would someone do with one? If they were a buck or two I might buy one as a curiosity but hunreds? Who has the equipment to utilize a bare die?

[EEVblog]

[james_s]

The cheapest gold wire thermal-pressure bonder is only $2000 used. It's not a hard entry point.
Gold bonding wires adhere to ENIG well, so basically all PCB fabs can make reasonable quality boards for handling the wire bonding.
Heck, we even sonic bond aluminum wires to ENIG, though the reliability sucks, but for experimental purposes, we are more than satisfied by the result.

Ok they're within the realm of an individual owning one, but I've never met anyone who had one. Even if you do have a bonding machine, what are you going to do with Agilent ASICs? I guess they might be useful for some very specialized repair work, but they're still at least 10x what a reasonable price would be.

[jjoonathan]

They're not delusional. If you don't know the price, list at an upper bound or-best-offer and apply your favorite "stopping problem" strategy (e.g. reject first offer, accept first subsequent offer that exceeds it).

[texaspyro]

Those are interesting, but what on earth would someone do with one? If they were a buck or two I might buy one as a curiosity but hunreds? Who has the equipment to utilize a bare die?

I used to have a wire bonder... paid around $150 for it, with microscope.   Used it for a while, then somebody made me an offer I couldn't refuse and sold it.

[mikeselectricstuff]

They're not delusional. If you don't know the price, list at an upper bound or-best-offer and apply your favorite "stopping problem" strategy (e.g. reject first offer, accept first subsequent offer that exceeds it).

I suspect he knows the list price but not the resale value. Anyone who normally buys these will not be buying them on ebay. You often see a similar thing with FPGAs - people look up the price on Digikey and get over-excited.

[jjoonathan]

Those are interesting, but what on earth would someone do with one? If they were a buck or two I might buy one as a curiosity but hunreds? Who has the equipment to utilize a bare die?

I used to have a wire bonder... paid around $150 for it, with microscope.   Used it for a while, then somebody made me an offer I couldn't refuse and sold it.

Special tactics or just really lucky? I've had an ebay watch for a few months now and I think I've seen 1 "lightly broken" bonder at the $500 price point with working bonders starting at twice that.

[texaspyro]

Special tactics or just really lucky? I've had an ebay watch for a few months now and I think I've seen 1 "lightly broken" bonder at the $500 price point with working bonders starting at twice that.

I bought it an equpment auction from a company I used to work for.   They has about a dozen of them.  It could also do some minor wafer probing.

[Mechatrommer]

those 20GHz++ amplifiers @ $60 - 100 per piece look interesting only if... 1) they ship outside USA 2) the datasheet is obtainium

[jjoonathan]

Special tactics or just really lucky? I've had an ebay watch for a few months now and I think I've seen 1 "lightly broken" bonder at the $500 price point with working bonders starting at twice that.

I bought it an equpment auction from a company I used to work for.   They has about a dozen of them.  It could also do some minor wafer probing.

Good score! Did they go through a site like fabexchange? I'd like to make sure my skinner box recon list is complete.

[texaspyro]

Special tactics or just really lucky? I've had an ebay watch for a few months now and I think I've seen 1 "lightly broken" bonder at the $500 price point with working bonders starting at twice that.

I bought it an equpment auction from a company I used to work for.   They has about a dozen of them.  It could also do some minor wafer probing.

Good score! Did they go through a site like fabexchange? I'd like to make sure my skinner box recon list is complete.

Nope, just a local equipment liquidator.  They moved a facility in California to Texas and dumped a lot of old crap after the move.

[jjoonathan]

Then I suppose I should figure out who the local liquidators are in my neck of the woods (RTP, North Carolina). We've got a bit of semiconductor R&D presence -- with the Hittite merger and the Qorvo layoffs, maybe something will show up.

[tpowell1830]

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Re: Very interesting stuff from an Ebay seller (Agilent die!)
« Reply #11 on: Today at 05:50:24 PM »

 

Quote from: jjoonathan on Today at 05:43:54 PM

    Special tactics or just really lucky? I've had an ebay watch for a few months now and I think I've seen 1 "lightly broken" bonder at the $500 price point with working bonders starting at twice that.


I bought it an equpment auction from a company I used to work for.   They has about a dozen of them.  It could also do some minor wafer probing

Did Kulicke and Soffa make the wire bonder?

[texaspyro]

Did Kulicke and Soffa make the wire bonder?

I don't remember who built it... it was around 1980.

[jasonbrent]

Then I suppose I should figure out who the local liquidators are in my neck of the woods (RTP, North Carolina). We've got a bit of semiconductor R&D presence -- with the Hittite merger and the Qorvo layoffs, maybe something will show up.

Also in RTP area.... no telling, i think. Liquidations can be handled by companies outside of the region. ... then again, im new to trying to find equipment for myself firsthand instead of through rebay/resellers.

[jjoonathan]

Looks like we've got a healthy population of vultures going here in RTP  None of the meat test equipment will go to waste!

[Gandalf_Sr]

When I read the title of this thread I thought is was a Siglent Jihadi war cry!  Given there are multiple items being sold, the title should be (Agilent dice!)

[Jwalling]

When I read the title of this thread I thought is was a Siglent Jihadi war cry!  Given there are multiple items being sold, the title should be (Agilent dice!)

You are correct, of course. I just wanted to say Agilent die! figuring it would get lots of views. 
Does anyone know whether Agilent did fab work for third parties? I'm still wondering if these were used in their test gear...

[Mechatrommer]

When I read the title of this thread I thought is was a Siglent Jihadi war cry!  Given there are multiple items being sold, the title should be (Agilent dice!)

i thought only non native could misinterpret. anyway another suggestion from non native could be Agilent dye or Agilent diy. but more precisely i think is Agilent hybrid.

[Gandalf_Sr]

I am being deliberately pedantic but the plural of die is dice.

Either way, it's interesting that these dice have found their way onto eBay but the sellers are quixotic if they think they will get anywhere near their asking price.

[Jwalling]

Either way, it's interesting that these dice have found their way onto eBay but the sellers are quixotic if they think they will get anywhere near their asking price.

It's hard to say without knowing what they go to; and that's the problem for the seller. If you knew that one of those might make it possible to fix a $30K piece of gear that's currently being used as a doorstop, then it would be worth it.

[Joel_l]

Way back when the company I work for used to have its own fab, it was not uncommon to have rejected wafers out and about. Somewhere I have a couple wafers with memory and what is equivalent to a north-bridge on them. I'd pony up $10 bucks just to show them to kids.