Abstract: A wire bonding method for bonding a ball 11 which is formed at a tip end of a bonding wire to a pad 2 that is a first bond point to form a first bonding part 12 and bonding the wire 10 to an interconnect wiring 4 that is a second bond point to form a second bonding part, thus connecting the pad 2 and the interconnect wiring with the wire, wherein after the ball is bonded to the first bond point and a capillary 6 is ascended, examination is performed to find any bonding failure of the first bonding part; and when the bonding failure at the first bond point is found, then the capillary is caused to descend to execute bonding to bond the first bonding part to the first bond point.

Abstract: An ultrasonic horn used in, for instance, a wire bonding apparatus and formed with mounting flanges, including a slit and a cross-sectional shape varying portion; the slit being on the central axis in the horn's longitudinal direction and extending fore and aft relative to the center of the mounting flanges, the length of the slit(s) being equal to or greater than the width direction of a flange region that is between the opposing flanges, and at least a part of the cross-sectional shape varying portion being on the outer surface of the horn at a slit region in which the slit is formed. The stress center point in the cross-section of the ultrasonic horn at the flange region is positioned more to the inside than a straight line joining the stress center points in the cross-sections of the ultrasonic horn at the front and rear end portions of the slit.

Abstract: An ultrasonic horn used in, for instance, a wire bonding apparatus and formed with mounting flanges, including a slit and a cross-sectional shape varying portion; the slit being on the central axis in the horn's longitudinal direction and extending fore and aft relative to the center of the mounting flanges, the length of the slit(s) being equal to or greater than the width direction of a flange region that is between the opposing flanges, and at least a part of the cross-sectional shape varying portion being on the outer surface of the horn at a slit region in which the slit is formed. The stress center point in the cross-section of the ultrasonic horn at the flange region is positioned more to the inside than a straight line joining the stress center points in the cross-sections of the ultrasonic horn at the front and rear end portions of the slit.

Abstract: A wire cleaning guide for guiding a wire in a feed direction and to clean the wire, including a gas supply nozzle for supplying plasma generating gas, a plasma generating chamber with plasma generating gas supplied from the gas supply nozzle thereto for transforming the plasma generating gas into plasma by energizing a bonding wire that passes there through to clean the wire by means of the plasma gas, and wire-feeder-side and bonding-tool-side guide holes for guiding the wire in the feed direction, the diameter of the wire-feeder-side guide hole is greater than that of the bonding-tool-side guide hole so that the outflow rate of gas after wire cleaning flowing between the wire-feeder-side guide hole and the wire is greater than that of gas after wire cleaning flowing between the bonding-tool-side guide hole and the wire.

Abstract: Wire bonding method for reducing height of a wire loop in a semiconductor device, including a first bonding step of bonding an initial ball formed at a tip end of a wire onto a first bonding point using a capillary, thereby forming a pressure-bonded ball; a wire pushing step of pushing the wire obliquely downward toward the second bonding point at a plurality of positions by repeating a sequential movement for a plurality of times, the sequential movement including moving of the capillary substantially vertically upward and then obliquely downward toward the second bonding point by a distance shorter than a rising distance that the capillary has moved upward; and a second bonding step of moving the capillary upward and then toward the second bonding point, and bonding the wire onto the second bonding point by pressure-bonding.

Abstract: An ultrasonic horn used in, for instance, a wire bonding apparatus and formed with mounting flanges, including a slit and a cross-sectional shape varying portion; the slit being on the central axis in the horn's longitudinal direction and extending fore and aft relative to the center of the mounting flanges, the length of the slit(s) being equal to or greater than the width direction of a flange region that is between the opposing flanges, and at least a part of the cross-sectional shape varying portion being on the outer surface of the horn at a slit region in which the slit is formed. The stress center point in the cross-section of the ultrasonic horn at the flange region is positioned more to the inside than a straight line joining the stress center points in the cross-sections of the ultrasonic horn at the front and rear end portions of the slit.

Abstract: After forming a pressure-bonded ball and a ball neck by bonding an initial ball to a pad, a capillary is moved upward, away from a lead, and then downward, thereby the ball neck is trodden on by a face portion that is on the lead side of the capillary. Subsequently, the capillary is moved upward and then toward the lead until the face portion of the capillary is positioned above the ball neck, thereby a wire is folded back toward the lead. Then, the capillary is moved downward such that a side of the wire is pressed by the capillary against the ball neck that has been trodden on. After the capillary is moved obliquely upward toward the lead and then looped toward the lead, the wire is pressure-bonded to the lead.

Abstract: An ultrasonic horn used in, for instance, a wire bonding apparatus and formed with mounting flanges, including a slit and a cross-sectional shape varying portion; the slit being on the central axis in the horn's longitudinal direction and extending fore and aft relative to the center of the mounting flanges, the length of the slit(s) being equal to or greater than the width direction of a flange region that is between the opposing flanges, and at least a part of the cross-sectional shape varying portion being on the outer surface of the horn at a slit region in which the slit is formed. The stress center point in the cross-section of the ultrasonic horn at the flange region is positioned more to the inside than a straight line joining the stress center points in the cross-sections of the ultrasonic horn at the front and rear end portions of the slit.

Abstract: A wire bonding method with the process of performing a first bonding to a pad of a die that is a first bond point, and the process of performing a second bonding to an interconnect wiring (or a lead) that is a second bond point, thus connecting the pad and the interconnect wiring with a wire. A bump is first formed on a pad, and, in a wire cutting step performed during the step of forming the bump, the wire protruding from the tip end of a capillary is bent in the lateral direction to form a bent part, and then the bent part is bonded to the bump, thus completing the first bonding process; after which the wire is bonded to the interconnect wiring, thus completing the second bonding process.

Abstract: A detecting apparatus used in a bonding apparatus including a capillary and a detection camera disposed with a certain amount of offset from the capillary and capable of detecting a press-bonded ball at a bonding portion after bonding. For a pad in which two edges of a press-bonded ball corresponding to two adjacent sides of the pad are definite, the detecting apparatus detects the respective distances between the two sides of the pad and the corresponding two edges of the press-bonded ball, and compares the detected values to determine if these values fall within previously set allowable ranges; and if the detected values are outside the allowable ranges, the amount of offset is corrected so that the press-bonded ball comes within the allowable ranges.

Abstract: A semiconductor device with improved bondability between a wire and a bump and cutting property of the wire to improve the bonding quality. In the semiconductor device, a wire is stacked on a pad as a second bonding point to form a bump having a sloped wedge and a first bent wire convex portion, and a wire is looped from a lead as a first bonding point to the bump and is pressed to the sloped wedge of the bump with a face portion of a tip end of a capillary to bond the wire to the bump. At the same time, the wire is pressed to the first bent wire convex portion using an inner chamfer of a bonding wire hole in the capillary to form a wire bent portion having a bow-shaped cross section. The wire is pulled up and cut at the wire bent portion.

Abstract: A wire bonding apparatus for manufacturing, for instance, semiconductor devices, including a cleaning case in which a microplasma generating section comprised of a plasma torch, which has a plasma nozzle 38 at the end, and capacitive coupling electrodes composed of an outer electrode and an inner electrode is fixed to the bottom of the cleaning case. The plasma nozzle is provided such that its center line is in alignment with the longitudinal center line of the capillary. Microplasma is ejected from below the capillary to clean its tip within the cleaning case. A shutter is provided on the top of the cleaning case and the wasted gas produced as a result of cleaning is exhausted out of the cleaning case through an exhaustion port of the cleaning case.

Abstract: A wire bonding apparatus including a bonding control section provided with an electrical non-bonding detector, an optical non-bonding detector, and an optical shape detector, which are for detecting non-bonding between a first bonding point and a bonding wire; and when non-bonding is detected by the electrical non-bonding detector and non-bonding is also detected by the optical non-bonding detector, then the tip end of the bonding wire is reformed by, based on the shape of the tip end of the bonding wire detected by the optical shape detector, a ball formation device into a ball of a prescribed shape, and rebonding is performed at the first bonding point.

Abstract: Wire bonding method for reducing height of a wire loop in a semiconductor device, including a first bonding step of bonding an initial ball formed at a tip end of a wire onto a first bonding point using a capillary, thereby forming a pressure-bonded ball; a wire pushing step of pushing the wire obliquely downward toward the second bonding point at a plurality of positions by repeating a sequential movement for a plurality of times, the sequential movement including moving of the capillary substantially vertically upward and then obliquely downward toward the second bonding point by a distance shorter than a rising distance that the capillary has moved upward; and a second bonding step of moving the capillary upward and then toward the second bonding point, and bonding the wire onto the second bonding point by pressure-bonding.

Abstract: An imaging device and method of a bonding apparatus in which the imaging device includes: a high-magnification optical system having first and second high-magnification optical paths that extend to multiple imaging planes through a high-magnification lens and have different optical path lengths from the high-magnification lens to the respective imaging planes correspondingly to multiple subject imaging ranges which are at different distances from the high-magnification lens; and a low-magnification optical system having a low-magnification optical path that extends to an imaging plane through a low-magnification lens and having a field of view wider than those of the high-magnification optical paths. The imaging elements on the respective imaging planes in the high-magnification optical system are adapted to image semiconductor chips, while the imaging element on the imaging plane in the low-magnification optical system is adapted to image a lead frame.

Abstract: A wire bonding apparatus including a joining machine unit for joining a wire to a subject device, a measurement unit for measuring the connection state between the subject device and the wire, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus. An AC-C measurement circuit of the measurement unit includes an AC power supply, an equivalent capacitance circuit that creates an essentially the same capacitance as the capacitance component of the joining machine unit before bonding, a differential circuit that finds the difference between the capacitance of the joining machine unit after bonding and the capacitance of the equivalent capacitance circuit, an amplification circuit, a rectification circuit, an AID conversion circuit, a judgment unit that judges the connection state, and an output unit.

Abstract: A semiconductor device with improved bondability between a wire and a bump and cutting property of the wire to improve the bonding quality. In the semiconductor device, a wire is stacked on a pad as a second bonding point to form a bump having a sloped wedge and a first bent wire convex portion, and a wire is looped from a lead as a first bonding point to the bump and is pressed to the sloped wedge of the bump with a face portion of a tip end of a capillary to bond the wire to the bump. At the same time, the wire is pressed to the first bent wire convex portion using an inner chamfer of a bonding wire hole in the capillary to form a wire bent portion having a bow-shaped cross section. The wire is pulled up and cut at the wire bent portion.

Abstract: A horn attachment arm for a bonding apparatus that performs high speed bonding with high accuracy to a large sized workpiece is provided. The horn attachment arm includes a fixing bracket fixed to a moveable member of a driving motor and a ultrasonic horn attaching bracket for attaching an ultrasonic horn on a tip end side to be fixed by being sandwiched between flat plates made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic. A flat plate space keeping member is attached between the flat plates so as to extend between the brackets. Flanges of the brackets and the longitudinal structure member are fixed to respective flat plates using a screw and an adhesive agent. The carbon fiber reinforced plastic that constitutes the flat plates has a greater number of reinforced fibers in a longitudinal direction than in a width direction, and is high in strength and rigidity in the longitudinal direction.

Abstract: A wire bonding apparatus including a bonding arm provided at a tip end thereof with an ultrasonic horn that has a capillary at its tip end, wherein the bonding arm is provided therein with a pressure sensor that detects the pressing load applied by the capillary on a workpiece when bonding is executed. The bonding arm has a supporting point which is a thin-connecting portion and located at a height which is the same as the height of the center of gravity of a part formed by the capillary, ultrasonic horn body portion, ultrasonic vibrator, ultrasonic horn connecting portion, etc., and at a point where a balance between inertial mass including the capillary, ultrasonic horn body part, ultrasonic horn connecting portion, horn securing screws and pressure screws and inertial mass of the ultrasonic vibrator is maintained, when the bonding arm is turned about a bonding arm supporting shaft.

Abstract: An offset measuring mechanism and method used in a bonding apparatus, in which the object plane of a position detection camera is set on a hypothetical bonding working plane, and the image of imaging elements within the imaging plane is projected onto a bonding working plane. Furthermore, the tip end of a bonding tool is aligned with the bonding working plane. The object plane of the offset measuring camera is set on the bonding working plane, and the image on the bonding working plane is projected onto the imaging elements of the imaging plane of the offset measuring camera. The imaging elements detect the projected image of the imaging elements of the position detection camera or the image of the tip end of the bonding tool and output this data to the image position measuring part or tool position measuring section of the control block.