Modeling and characterization of wire bonding for RF applications

This paper describes a design methodology for improving the electrical performance of wire bonding. Adjacent power or ground wires are used to provide return paths in a coplanar configuration, thereby minimizing impedance mismatch. Design space exploration based on full-wave electromagnetic analysis is performed to achieve an optimized topology. The methodology has been demonstrated for both parallel and fanout bonding topologies for high frequencies up to 10 GHz. With advances in wire bonding technology, particularly fine pitch bonding, a coplanar configuration is highly feasible. The proposed methodology can be applied to lead frame, leadless chip carrier, COB and advanced BGA packages.