Wafer damage issue study by heavy Al wire wedge bonding
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to attempt to confirm the root cause of wafer damage issue by heavy Al wire wedge bonding and propose some permanent solutions for it.
Design/methodology/approach
The infra red–optical beam-induced resistance change (IR-OBIRCH) analysis defines the position of an abnormal hotspot. A cross section and an scanning electron microscope (SEM) confirmed the wafer damage issue and its position. Based on the position of wafer damage, the wedge tool with different life and Al buildup was checked found to be on the wedge tool. Finite element analysis (FEA) modeling analysis and simulation experiment guarantee the Al buildup, and low wedge deformation thickness (WDT) can cause the wafer damage issue. Finally, design of experiment (DOE) experiments are designed to optimize wedge tool dimension and wedge-bond parameters to eliminate wafer damage issue.
Findings
Wafer damage issue caused the Vpwr-OUTPUT leakage issue by IR-OBIRCH analysis. Al buildup was found on wedge tool with different life and its size gets larger along with the increase in wedge tool life. Low WDT and bigger Al buildup can cause the wafer damage. Designing new wedge tool and parameters optimization can increase WDT.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the limitation of time and resources, finite element method (FEM) modeling and wedge tool dimension could not be studied more deeply.
Originality/value
This paper sets an example on how to find out the root cause of wafer damage by a step-by-step analysis and put forward a quick solution accordingly for the issue.
Keywords
Citation
Zhang, H., Hu, M., Zong, F., Yin, B., Ye, D., He, Q. and Wang, Z. (2014), "Wafer damage issue study by heavy Al wire wedge bonding", Microelectronics International, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 129-136. https://doi.org/10.1108/MI-10-2013-0048
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited