Ball Formation Processes in Wire Bonding Apparatus

世界上制造的集成电路中，有一半以上的引线是通过球键合工艺连接的。几乎所有关于这一过程的信息都是经验性的——分析模型并不存在。在连接过程中，通过放电加热连接线；然后，在表面张力的影响下，它融化并形成一个球。球被压在硅芯片上的触点上形成键。研究人员将通过放大实验，使用高速运动图像来研究球的形成。在空气中使用金丝，在空气和氩气中使用铝合金丝。该合金将含有镁作为强化剂，但其他合金也将进行评估。

More than half of the integrated circuits manufactured in the world have wire leads attached by the ball-bonding process. Almost all of the information about this process is empirical--an analytical model does not exist. In the attachment process the bonding wire is heated by an electric discharge; it then melts and forms a ball under the influence of surface tension. The ball is pressed onto the contacts on the silicon chip to form a bond. The researcher will study ball formation by scaled-up experiments, using high-speed motion pictures. Gold wire in air, and aluminum alloy wire in air and in argon will be used. The alloy will contain magnesium as the strengthening agent, but other alloys will also be evaluated.