Current industry adoption of fine-pitch Cu wire bonding and investigation focus at iNEMI

Gold (Au) wire bonding is one of today´s most common and well understood first level interconnects. However copper (Cu) wire bonding is increasingly being used for a wide variety of components, predominantly driven by the cost benefit of Cu. As the application moves from mostly consumer products to high-reliability electronic systems, the long term reliability of fine-pitch Cu wire bonding must be better understood. A collaborative project has been launched by iNEMI (International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative) member companies to assess the current adoption landscape of Cu wire bonding in the industry, and to understand the critical factors that impact component reliability. An industrial survey has already been conducted by the project. The results of the survey not only provide a clear overview of the general application status of Cu wire bonding, but also illustrate key technical concerns such as reliability performance, materials and process capability (or optimization), and qualification standards requirements.