Wire-Bond Reliability in Hybrid Microcircuits

Defective wire bonds account for a high percentage of hybrid-microcircuit failures. The work reported here was undertaken to evaluate methods of determining and enhancing bond reliability. The investigations indicated the limitations of visual inspection and such conventional screening techniques as mechanical shock and acceleration testing and thermal cycling for the assessment of microcircuit bonds. They showed that pull-strength testing and failure-mode identification constitute a valuable tool for use in reliability evaluation and manufacturing control.