Method and system for pull testing of wire bonds

{
  "publication_number": "US9889521B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Method and system for pull testing of wire bonds",
  "abstract": "A method for pull testing a wire bond. The method including the steps of: (i) with a wire bonding tool, bonding an end of a wire to make a bond at a first location on a bonding surface having a conductive material, such that the bond completes an electrical circuit; (ii) clamping the wire with a wire clamp; (iii) pulling the wire with the wire clamp to apply a predetermined pulling force; (iv) detecting whether the electrical circuit is open; and (v) if the electrical circuit is open, determining that there has been a bond failure, and automatically incrementing a bond failure count.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A method for pull testing of a wire bond, the method comprising steps of: (i) with a wire bonding tool, bonding an end of a wire to make a first bond at a first location on a bonding surface comprising a conductive material, such that the first bond completes an electrical circuit; (ii) clamping the wire with a wire clamp; (iii) applying a constant predetermined pulling force to the wire with the wire clamp by moving the wire clamp away from the first bond by a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction to a second location spaced from the first location in a single continuous motion; (iv) detecting whether the electrical circuit is open when the wire bonding tool is at the second location; and (v) if the electrical circuit is open, determining that there has been a bond failure, and automatically incrementing a bond failure count; and thereafter (vi) forming a second bond at the bonding surface at a third location.",
    "2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first bond is a ball bond.",
    "3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the pulling force is applied in a direction normal to the bonding surface.",
    "4. The method according to claim 2, further comprising, if the electrical circuit is open after step (iv), adjusting a bonding power of the wire bonding tool; and making a further bond at the bonding surface at the first location.",
    "5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second bond is a wedge bond.",
    "6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, prior to clamping the wire, translating the position of the wire bonding tool to feed out a predetermined additional length of wire.",
    "7. The method according to claim 6, wherein said translation comprises a lateral translation and a vertical translation.",
    "8. The method according to claim 6, wherein said translation comprises a vertical translation.",
    "9. The method according to claim 8, wherein said vertical translation 5 is less than a distance between the first location and a second location on the bonding surface; and wherein the method further comprises making a second bond at the second location, whereby the pulling force is applied to the wire.",
    "10. The method according to claim 1, comprising: initializing the bond failure count; and then, performing successive iterations of steps (i) to (v) to determine a bond failure percentage.",
    "11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: adjusting a value of a bonding parameter of the wire bonding tool; re-initializing the bond failure count; and continuing to perform successive iterations of steps (i) to (v) to determine a further bond failure percentage.",
    "12. The method according to claim 11, comprising generating a plurality of bond failure percentages, respective bond failure percentages corresponding to respective values of the bonding parameter.",
    "13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the bonding parameter is selected from the group consisting of: bonding force; ultrasonic power; and free airball (FAB) size.",
    "14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second location is at a distance from the first location, which is not subsequently increased by moving the wire clamp, clamping the wire, away from the first bond beyond the predetermined distance in the predetermined direction.",
    "15. A pull testing system for a wire bonder, the system comprising: a wire bonding tool configured to receive a wire to bond the wire to a bonding surface comprising a conductive material; at least one wire clamp; an open circuit detector electrically connectable at respective terminals to the bonding surface and to the wire; and a controller which is configured to: (i) control the wire bonding tool to make a first bond between the wire and the bonding surface at a first location, such that the first bond completes an electrical circuit with the bonding surface, the wire and the open circuit detector; (ii) control the wire clamp to clamp the wire; (iii) move the wire clamp away from the first bond by a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction to a second location spaced from the first location in a single continuous motion to apply a constant predetermined pulling force to the wire; (iv) receive a detection signal from the open circuit detector indicating whether the electrical circuit is open; and (v) if the electrical circuit is open, determine that there has been a bond failure, and automatically increment a bond failure count; and thereafter (vi) form a second bond at the bonding surface at a third location.",
    "16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the first bond is a ball bond.",
    "17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to move the wire clamp to apply the pulling force in a direction normal to the bonding surface.",
    "18. The system according to claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to, on receiving an indication that the electrical circuit is open, adjust a bonding power of the wire bonding tool; and to control the wire bonding tool to make a further bond at the bonding surface at the first location.",
    "19. The system according to claim 15, wherein the second bond is a wedge bond.",
    "20. The system according to claim 15, wherein the controller is further configured to, prior to controlling the wire clamp to clamp the wire, translate the position of the wire bonding tool to feed out a predetermined additional length of wire.",
    "21. The system according to claim 20, wherein said translation comprises a lateral translation and a vertical translation.",
    "22. The system according to claim 20, wherein said translation comprises a vertical translation.",
    "23. The system according to claim 22, wherein said vertical translation is less than a distance between the first location and a second location on the bonding surface; and wherein the controller is further configured to control the wire bonding tool to make a second bond at the second location, whereby the pulling force is applied to the wire.",
    "24. The system according to claim 15, wherein the controller is further configured to: initialize the bond failure count; and then, perform successive iterations of steps (i) to (v) to determine a bond failure percentage.",
    "25. The system according to claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to: adjust a value of a bonding parameter of the wire bonding tool; re-initialize the bond failure count; and continue to perform successive iterations of steps (i) to (v) to determine a further bond failure percentage.",
    "26. The system according to claim 25, wherein the controller is configured to generate a plurality of bond failure percentages, respective bond failure percentages corresponding to respective values of the bonding parameter.",
    "27. The system according to claim 25, wherein the bonding parameter is selected from the group consisting of: bonding force; ultrasonic power; and free airball (FAB) size.",
    "28. The system according to claim 15, wherein the second location is at a distance from the first location, which is not subsequently increased by moving the wire clamp, clamping the wire, away from the first bond beyond the predetermined distance in the predetermined direction."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to pull testing of wire bonds.\n\nWire bonders are used during semiconductor assembly and packaging for making electrical interconnections between electrical contact pads on a semiconductor die and a substrate, or between electrical contact pads on different semiconductor dies. Wire is fed from a wire spool containing bonding wire to a bonding tool such as a capillary for performing wire bonding.\n\nA typical method used to bond or weld the wire to a connection pad is through a combination of heat, pressure and/or ultrasonic energy. It is a solid phase welding process, wherein the two metallic materials (the wire and the pad surface) are brought into intimate contact. Once the surfaces are in intimate contact, electron sharing or inter-diffusion of atoms takes place, resulting in the formation of a wire bond. The two main types of wire bond are ball bonds and wedge bonds.\n\nIn order to ensure consistent wire bonding performance, it is desirable to assess portability of wire bonding apparatus as well as the robustness of the bonding recipe. Typically, in order to do so, bonding parameters such as ball size, ball thickness, ball shear, intermetallic coverage, occurrence of ball lift, and occurrence of bond pad peeling are measured, and compared across wire bonders and/or recipes.\n\nOne widely used test of bond quality is the pull test. In a pull test, a series of bonded wires extending between respective pairs of bond pads are each pulled manually by tweezers or a hook in direction generally away from the bond pads. Dedicated wire pulling machines specifically designed for this task are also known.",
  "cpc": [
    "B23K 20/10",
    "B23K 20/007",
    "B23K 2101/42",
    "B23K 31/125",
    "G01N 19/04",
    "H01L 2224/859",
    "H10P 74/207",
    "H10W 72/07531"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "G01N 3/08",
    "B23K 20/10",
    "B23K 31/12",
    "G01N 19/04"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "ASM Technology Singapore Pte Ltd"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Keng Yew Song",
    "Yi Bin Wang",
    "Qing Le TAN",
    "Lin Wei ZHENG",
    "Jia Le LUO"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2014-12-02",
  "publication_date": "2018-02-13",
  "grant_date": "2018-02-13",
  "priority_date": "2014-12-02",
  "application_number": "US-201414558395-A",
  "family_id": "56079020",
  "cited_by_count": 6,
  "citations": [
    "US5660319A",
    "US5591920A",
    "TW473884B",
    "US6467678B2",
    "US6564115B1",
    "TWI275166B",
    "US20070069207A1",
    "US20110058979A1"
  ]
}