Bond Surface Conditioning System for Improved Bondability

Abstract

Thick film bond surfaces on a support structure, such as a ceramic substrate or an IC package substrate, tend to deform during processing. A personality kit having raised bosses engages with and compresses the bond surfaces, resulting in a flatter, wider bond surface having improved reflectivity. The personality kit is fit within a clamp that can be used as a stand-alone unit or integrated into an existing machine, such as a wire bonder.

Description

[0001] This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10 / 611,480 filed Jul. 1, 2003, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10 / 060,517 filed Jan. 30, 2002, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,726.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates generally to integrated circuit manufacturing and more specifically to a wire-bonding step in the manufacture of an integrated circuit package. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] As illustrated in FIG. 1, an integrated circuit chip 2 is electrically connected to the outside world by connecting a wire 4 (typically called bond wire) from electrical contact points 6, commonly called bond pads, on the chip 2 to electrical contact points, commonly called bond surfaces, 8 on a physical support structure 10. Conductive traces 12 on the support structure then carry electrical signals to and from the chip to other components of the electrical circuit in which the chip is placed. Typically, the traces and bond surfaces are formed of a thick film ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a method and device for conditioning the bond surfaces of a support structure, such as a substrate, by aligning the support structure within a clamp and forcibly engaging the support structure with the clamp to flatten the bond surfaces. This improves the yield and reliability of the manufacturing process and results in smooth and reflective bond surfaces that are easier to recognize and align with a machine vision system. The invention can be incorporated into existing manufacturing process equipment with minimal retrofitting.

Problems solved by technology

Both of these are deviations from the ideal bond surface, (i.e. shrinkage and radius of curvature) can result in the bond wire being mis-aligned to the bond surface or an incomplete or unsatisfactory bond between the bond wire and bond surface.

Device failure, performance degradation, and reliability problems can result from such a situation.

This constraints limit the flexibility and adaptability of the manufacturing process, however.

This process is labor-intensive, time consuming, and subject to wide process variations; it is not a practical solution for high volume, inexpensive, high reliability manufacturing.

The lead frame fingers are subject to damage and misplacement during the bonding process.

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