Microelectronics Wire Bond Quality Analysis Research

摘要

The research program was conducted to detect whether conventional nondestructive wire pull tests used in the semiconductor industry induce invisible sub-critical damage causing premature failure, and also to identify the exact nature of the damage thus caused. The research centered on the phenomenon of acoustic emission (high frequency stress waves generated by the initiation and propagation of flaws), using specialized sensors and equipment to detect the signals. Results showed that acoustic emission could not only detect flaws, but also predict the type of failure which would occur. Also, acoustic emission was sensitive enough to detect bond quality variations occurring with position in the IC package, caused by the automatic bonding process. There was no evidence found using acoustic emission that the wire pull test caused sub-critical damage to the devices.