System and method to customize bond programs compensating integrated circuit bonder variability

Abstract

A computerized system and method for customizing bond programs in order to compensate first for variabilities in an integrated circuit (IC) “slave” bonder, and second to any irregularities in a “slave” circuit positioned on the slave bonder for attaching connecting bonds onto the IC bond pads. According to the invention, a “master” segmentator groups the bond pads of a “master” circuit on a master bonder into segments and stores the reference data related to these segments in a master file. Next, a slave regenerator, coupled to the master file, regenerates the master reference data so that variable characteristics of the slave bonder are defined and adaptively compensated. Finally, a slave corrector, coupled to the salve regenerator, corrects the bond program for the slave circuit on the adaptively compensated slave bonder. The slave bonder attaches the connecting bonds based on the computed correct bond locations.

Description

[0001] This is a divisional application of co-pending application Ser. No. 09 / 855,893 filed on May 15, 2001, which claims priority from provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 204,997 filed May 16, 2000. The contents of the parent application are herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention is related in general to the field of semiconductor devices and electronic systems and more specifically to bond program customization and operation of computer-controlled bonding machines used in integrated circuit assembly. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART [0003] In integrated circuit (IC) assembly, an IC chip is typically mounted on a leadframe and electrically connected to it by metallic segments. Commonly, the chip assembly is encapsulated in a protective package (for instance, ceramic package, or plastic package using molding process). Typically, the IC chip has a plurality of bond pads, which are often positioned around the chip perimeter; ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a computerized system and method for customizing bond programs to compensate for variabilities in an integrated circuit (IC) \"slave\" boder and to adapt to time-dependent variabilities. The system includes a master segmentator, a slave regenerator, and a slave corrector. The master segmentator groups the bond pads of a master circuit into segments and stores the reference data related to these segments in a master file. The slave regenerator regenerates the master reference data so that the variabilities of the slave boder are adaptively compensated. The slave corrector corrects the bond program based on the compensated bond locations. The invention is highly flexible and can be applied to many families of electronic structures. It reduces operational program errors and improves the efficiency of the bonding process."

Problems solved by technology

Without knowing accurately the target bonding locations, the bond head cannot place the bonds as expected.

Large differences in intensity settings can reduce the ability of the pattern recognition system to locate the references accurately.

Problems in wire bonding techniques arise in part from the technology trends to increase the number of leads in a given package and to make IC chip packages smaller.

For instance, even small bond placement errors may result in device loss.

Further, a x-y pair might have a global positioning error because of an error in the orthogonality between them; or the tables may exhibit a range of hysteresis errors.

These variations become even more threatening as common device programs are shared due to quality enforcement and economic reasons.

The current systems have difficulties in achieving this.

The current systems cannot handle x-y table inconsistencies.

For small pad / fine pitch bonding, a small error in ball placement can cause the ball to be partially off the pad.

Human error during regeneration of alignment program: Ball placement is greatly affected by the accuracy of the alignment program.

There are many steps to this regeneration process and thus there are many chances for human error.

Images