Influences of bonding parameters on the tool wear for copper wire bonding

Ultrasonic wire bonding is a common technology for manufacturing electrical interconnects. In the field of power electronics, new thermal and electrical obligations arose due to increasing power density requirements. One approach to achieve these aims is replacing the wire material for heavy wire bonds from aluminum to copper. This material change leads to challenging tasks and problems, for instance the occurring wear of the bond tool. The wear is significantly higher using copper wire instead of aluminum and results in a dramatic loss in the amount of interconnects which can be produced reliable by a single tool. To reduce setting-up time in the production and minimizing costs, an enlarged bonding tool lifetime is desirable. Therefore, the paper discusses the influences of bonding parameters on the wear. The key question is which of the tasks cannot be fulfilled with increased wear of the tool, e.g. loss of process capability. The main functions are fixing the wire in the tool groove, pre-deformation, applying normal force and transmission of ultrasonic oscillation to the wire. To identify the most affecting factors, four bonding parameters are varied and their influences are investigated. These parameters are: (I) ultrasonic power, (II) tool geometry, (III) the way of tangential force transmission and (IV) loop trajectory.