An electronic device has a fuse circuit including a semiconductor die and first and second bond wires, the semiconductor die having a bond pad and a fuse, the fuse having first and second portions, the bond pad coupled to the first portion of the fuse, and the second portion of the fuse coupled to a protected circuit, the first bond wire having a first end coupled to the bond pad and a second end coupled to a conductive terminal, and the second bond wire having a first end coupled to the second end of the first bond wire and a second end coupled to the conductive terminal.

A method for forming a semiconductor device includes forming an insulating material layer above a semiconductor substrate and modifying at least a portion of a surface of the insulating material layer after forming the insulating material layer. Further, the method includes forming an electrical conductive structure on at least the portion of the surface of the insulating material layer after modifying at least the portion of the surface of the insulating material layer.

A method for interconnecting two conductors includes creating a first nickel layer on a first conductor of an electrical component, producing a first non-gold protective layer on the first nickel layer, the first non-gold protective layer being configured to prevent the first nickel layer from oxidizing, creating a second nickel layer on a second conductor, producing a second non-gold protective layer on the second nickel layer, the second non-gold protective layer being configured to prevent the second nickel layer from oxidizing, and interconnecting the first and second nickel layers using a solder layer that interfaces with the first and second nickel layers between the first and second conductors.

In a described example, an apparatus includes: a process chamber configured for a pressure greater than one atmosphere, having a device chuck configured to support electronic devices that are mounted on package substrates and partially covered in mold compound, the electronic devices spaced from one another by saw streets; and a saw in the process chamber configured to cut through the mold compound and package substrates in the saw streets to separate the molded electronic devices one from another.

A method of forming a wire loop in connection with a semiconductor package is provided. The method includes the steps of: (1) providing package data related to the semiconductor package to a wire bonding machine; (2) providing at least one looping control value related to a desired wire loop to the wire bonding machine, the at least one looping control value including at least a loop height value related to the desired wire loop; (3) deriving looping parameters, using an algorithm, for forming the desired wire loop; (4) forming a first wire loop on the wire bonding machine using the looping parameters derived in step (3); (5) measuring actual looping control values of the first wire loop formed in step (4) corresponding to the at least one looping control value; and (6) comparing the actual looping control values measured in step (5) to the at least one looping control value provided in step (2).

A package structure includes a first dielectric layer, semiconductor device(s) attached to the first dielectric layer, and an embedding material applied to the first dielectric layer so as to embed the semiconductor device therein, the embedding material comprising one or more additional dielectric layers. Vias are formed through the first dielectric layer to the at least one semiconductor device, with metal interconnects formed in the vias to form electrical interconnections to the semiconductor device. Input/output (I/O) connections are located on one end of the package structure on one or more outward facing surfaces thereof to provide a second level connection to an external circuit. The package structure interfits with a connector on the external circuit to mount the package perpendicular to the external circuit, with the I/O connections being electrically connected to the connector to form the second level connection to the external circuit.

An improvement is achieved in the reliability of a semiconductor device. After a resin sealing portion is formed to seal a die pad, a semiconductor chip mounted over the die pad, a plurality of leads, and a plurality of wires electrically connecting a plurality of pad electrodes of the semiconductor chip with the leads, the resin sealing portion and the leads are cut with a rotary blade to manufacture the semiconductor device. In the semiconductor device, at least a portion of each of first and second leads is exposed from a lower surface of the sealing portion. End surfaces of the first and second leads as the respective cut surfaces thereof are exposed from each of side surfaces of the sealing portion as the cut surfaces of the resin sealing portion. The distance between a lower side of the end surface of the first lead and an upper surface of the sealing portion is smaller than the distance between an upper side of the end surface of the second lead adjacent thereto and the upper surface of the sealing portion.

A method for interconnecting two conductors includes creating a first nickel layer on a first conductor of an electrical component, producing a first non-gold protective layer on the first nickel layer, the first non-gold protective layer being configured to prevent the first nickel layer from oxidizing, creating a second nickel layer on a second conductor, producing a second non-gold protective layer on the second nickel layer, the second non-gold protective layer being configured to prevent the second nickel layer from oxidizing, and interconnecting the first and second nickel layers using a solder layer that interfaces with the first and second nickel layers between the first and second conductors.

A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate with a wiring layer formed thereon, an insulating film formed on the semiconductor substrate so as to cover the wiring layer and having a pad opening exposing a portion of the wiring layer as a pad, a front surface protection film formed on the insulating film and being constituted of an insulating material differing from the insulating film and having a second pad opening securing exposure of at least a portion of the pad, a seed layer formed on the pad, and a plating layer formed on the seed layer.

An electronic device includes: a semiconductor body; a front metallization region; a top buffer region, arranged between the front metallization region and the semiconductor body; and a conductive wire, electrically connected to the front metallization region. The top buffer region is at least partially sintered.