Ultra Fine Pitch

Challenges in very-fine-pitch wire bonding are not limited to wire-bonder capability alone; process control is also of great importance. Moreover, the metrology employed to judge parts quality must be very closely monitored. Additionally, site-to-site variations in both bonding and metrology can play a significant role in both perceived and true sample quality, according to a recent study.

Published in Chip Scale Review: Mar 2006

During wire bonding, process reliability plays an important role in overall device assembly cost. Reliability refers to the probability that a wire bonder will perform its required functions satisfactorily under specific conditions and within a certain time period.

Published in Circuits Assembly: Mar. 2006

Ultra-fine pitch ball bonds with small weld cross sections must be carefully optimized to avoid premature intermetallic failures. A series of experiments went beyond pull/shear testing to determine robust operating conditions for long-term reliability.

Presented at SEMICON Singapore 2006

Gold ball bonding is still used for manufacturing over 90% electronics packages and has moved towards finer pitch in response to increasing demand for more I/O’s in smaller spaces. However, as commonly observed when reducing the size of components or features in semiconductor assemblies, reliability decreases.

Presented at 6th EPTC, Pan Pacific Singapore: Dec. 2004

Recent advances in polymer encapsulation prove effective in reducing wire sweep during bonding.

Published in Semiconductor International: Oct 2004

As 45µm pad pitch applications begin in full production, the industry continues to move towards even finer pitch wire bonding processes. It is, therefore, necessary to begin developing wire-bonding processes for 35µm pad pitch.

Presented at SEMICON Singapore 2004

Today’s ultra-fine pitch wire bonded devices operate at hotter temperatures and still demand high reliability.

Presented at SEMICON Singapore 2004

Winner Best Paper Award at Semicon Singapore 2004

The transition from fine pitch (FP) to ultra-fine pitch (UFP) applications has necessitated a change in the geometry of gold ballbonds in order to meet the requirements of more advanced assemblies.

Driven by the relentless pursuit of dimensional reduction in wire bonded IC, a corresponding reduction in the tip geometry of bonding tools (more commonly known as capillaries that handle the bonding wire and form the bonds) has become an undesirable necessity.

Presented at SEMICON Singapore 2004

K&S CIC capillary design improves UFP bonding applications.

Published in DesignFax Magazine: July 2003

Historically, the predominent obstacle to reducing wire bond pitch has been the positional accuracy and repeatability of the wire bonding machine.

2002 SEMI / IEEE