Ball mounting apparatus with ball attach volume control

A method of forming an integrated circuit, comprising:

• receiving a quantity of solder balls in a ball transfer unit of a solder ball handler;
• moving the solder balls to a ball buffer unit of the solder ball handler, the moving including directing a gas stream into the ball transfer unit;
• and
• opening an aperture of the ball buffer unit thereby transferring the quantity of solder balls to a plurality of ball-attach locations of the integrated circuit.

A method of forming an integrated circuit, comprising:

• receiving a plurality of solder balls in a first volume connected directly to a gas source;
• transferring the plurality of solder balls from the first volume to a second volume by directing a gas flow from the gas source to the first volume;
• and
• after filling the second volume with solder balls, opening an outlet from the second volume such that the plurality of solder balls are positioned over corresponding solder ball contacts on the integrated circuit.

A solder ball transfer device, comprising:

• a path from a solder ball source to an intermediate solder ball storage volume;
• a gas flow path directly connected to the intermediate solder ball storage volume;
• and
• a solder ball buffer volume connected between the intermediate solder ball storage volume and an outlet valve, the solder ball buffer volume configured to receive solder balls from the intermediate solder ball storage in response to one or more solder ball transfer events that include directing a gas flow to the intermediate solder ball storage volume.