Non-metallic Bonding Tool Technique; A Key Input Control for Contamination in Ultrasonic Wirebonding Process

In the search for total solution to reduce wedge tool rate of Aluminum debris build-up in Ultrasonic wire bonding for semiconductor manufacturing, several approaches and techniques were introduced but results differ from each other. The approach taken is composite material selection. Tungsten Carbide wedge tool has been the most established material for Aluminum Wedge bonding. Its material property was tested over years for quality and reliability. However, as discrete devices on semiconductor industry evolved from few wires (1 to 2 wires) to multiple wires (>3 wires) on a source pad, the impact of this development emerged. More wires bonded in lesser time resulted to frequent tool cleaning and replacement. Bond formation quality is also affected because of the increasing rate of build-up on the tool tip. With the advancement of package technology a new wedge tool material was explored; a non-metallic tool that addresses the massive aluminum build-up on tool tip. This paper presents the characteristics and advantages of a ceramic material over the market-dominant tungsten carbide in mechanical, thermal and wear applications.