A wire bonding tool for bonding a micro-coaxial wire to a bonding surface includes an electrical-energy application mechanism configured to apply electrical-energy to remove a portion of an electrically conductive shield layer of the micro-coaxial wire to expose a portion of an insulating layer of the micro-coaxial wire, a thermal-energy application mechanism configured to apply thermal-energy to the micro-coaxial wire to remove the exposed portion of the insulating layer of the micro-coaxial wire to expose a portion of a core wire of the micro-coaxial wire, and a bonding head configured to bond the exposed portion of the core wire of the micro-coaxial wire to the bonding surface.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bond apparatus for bonding a wire to a bonding surface, comprising: a bond head body movably retained by a mounting portion; a first actuator; and a second actuator, wherein the bond head body has a tool portion configured to receive a bonding tool for receiving and bonding the wire and an actuator portion coupled with the first actuator and the second actuator, the first actuator and the second actuator being operative to act on the actuator portion for moving the bond head body with respect to the mounting portion to move the bonding tool with respect to the bonding surface.

A method of interconnecting components of a semiconductor device using wire bonding is presented. The method includes creating a free air ball at a first end of an aluminum wire that has a coating surrounding the aluminum wire, wherein the coating comprises palladium, and wherein the free air ball is substantially free of the coating. The method further includes the step of bonding the free air ball to a bond pad on a semiconductor chip, the bond pad having an aluminum surface layer, wherein the resultant ball bond and the bond pad form a substantially homogenous, aluminum-to-aluminum bond. The method may further include bonding a second, opposing end of the coated-aluminum wire to a bond site separate from the semiconductor chip, the bond site having a palladium surface layer, wherein the second end of the coated-aluminum wire and the bond site form a substantially homogenous, palladium-to-palladium bond.

A method of interconnecting components of a semiconductor device using wire bonding is presented. The method includes creating a free air ball at a first end of an aluminum wire that has a coating surrounding the aluminum wire, wherein the coating comprises palladium, and wherein the free air ball is substantially free of the coating. The method further includes the step of bonding the free air ball to a bond pad on a semiconductor chip, the bond pad having an aluminum surface layer, wherein the resultant ball bond and the bond pad form a substantially homogenous, aluminum-to-aluminum bond. The method may further include bonding a second, opposing end of the coated-aluminum wire to a bond site separate from the semiconductor chip, the bond site having a palladium surface layer, wherein the second end of the coated-aluminum wire and the bond site form a substantially homogenous, palladium-to-palladium bond.

Disclosed are systems, devices, apparatus, tools, coaxial cables, materials, methods, and other implementations that include a method comprising controllably stripping, through one or more applications of energy directed at a micro coaxial cable, a conductive shield layer of the micro coaxial cable to expose a portion of a core conductive wire of the micro coaxial wire, and controllably deforming the exposed portion of the core conductive wire of the micro coaxial wire through the one or more applications of energy.

Disclosed is a method of measuring a free air ball size during a wire bonding process of a wire bonder, which comprises a position sensor and a bonding tool for forming an electrical connection between a semiconductor device and a substrate using a bonding wire. Specifically, the method comprises the steps of: forming a free air ball from a wire tail of the bonding wire; using the position sensor to determine a positional difference between a first and a second position of the bonding tool with respect to a reference position, wherein the first position of the bonding tool is a position of the bonding tool with respect to the reference position when the free air ball contacts a conductive surface; and measuring the free air ball size based on the positional difference of the bonding tool as determined by the position sensor. A wire bonder configured to perform such a method is also disclosed.

The present invention provides a ball forming method for forming a ball portion at a tip of a bonding wire which includes a core material mainly composed of Cu, and a coating layer mainly composed of Pd and formed over a surface of the core material, wherein the ball portion is formed in non-oxidizing atmosphere gas including hydrocarbon which is gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, the method being capable of improving Pd coverage on a ball surface in forming a ball at a tip of the Pd-coated Cu bonding wire.

To provide a wire bonding method and a wire bonding device capable of stably forming a free air ball having a large ball diameter while suppressing oxidation of the free air ball, in addition to supply of an oxidation prevention gas from gas supply means (10) into an insertion portion (32), an oxidation prevention gas is supplied from a gas supply nozzle (40), which is arranged outside the insertion portion (32), so as to cover an inlet of the insertion portion (32). Under a state in which a leading end of a wire (74) is positioned inside the insertion portion (32), and in which a leading end of a capillary (3) is positioned outside the insertion portion (32), spark discharge is generated. With this, a free air ball (75) having a large ball diameter can be formed while suppressing oxidation of the free air ball (75) and stabilizing the free air ball (75).

To provide a wire bonding apparatus, which is insusceptible to a bonding state at a second bonding point due to a wire cut error or the like, or to members such as a capillary and a wire, and is capable of automatically protruding the wire from a leading end of the capillary, provided is a wire bonding apparatus including: a capillary (6) having a through hole through which a wire (40) is to be inserted; a holding unit, which is provided above the capillary (6), and is configured to hold the wire (40) inserted through the capillary (6); and a vibrating unit configured to vertically vibrate the capillary (6). Under a state in which the holding unit holds the wire (40), the vibrating unit vertically vibrates the capillary (6) so that the wire (40) is protruded from the leading end of the capillary.

The present invention provides a ball forming method for forming a ball portion at a tip of a bonding wire which includes a core material mainly composed of Cu, and a coating layer mainly composed of Pd and formed over a surface of the core material, wherein the ball portion is formed in non-oxidizing atmosphere gas including hydrocarbon which is gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, the method being capable of improving Pd coverage on a ball surface in forming a ball at a tip of the Pd-coated Cu bonding wire.