A bonding apparatus has a bonding platform including a top plate for supporting a fragile semiconductor substrate during interconnect bonding operations conducted on the substrate. Vacuum holes situated on the top plate, forming a first vacuum section, a second vacuum section, and a third vacuum section located between the first and second vacuum sections, generate vacuum suction forces on the substrate during bonding. Individually controllable first, second and third vacuum supplies are connected to the first, second and third vacuum sections respectively. The first and second vacuum supplies cooperate at a first bonding position to generate a vacuum suction force at the first and second vacuum sections, and the second and third vacuum supplies cooperate at a second bonding to position to generate a vacuum suction force at the second and third vacuum sections.

A bonding apparatus 10 having a diagonal optical system 30, the bonding apparatus moves a capillary 24 down to a first heightwise position to calculate a position A11 of a tip end portion of the capillary 24 and a position A12 of a tip end portion of the capillary in an image on an imaging plane of the diagonal optical system 30, and similarly moves the capillary 24 down to a further lower second heightwise position to calculate a position A21 of the tip end portion of the capillary 24 and a position A22 of the tip end portion of the capillary in the image on the imaging plane. The bonding apparatus then estimates the position of the landing point of the capillary 24 on a bonding target 8 based on positional data for the four calculated positions A11, A12, A21, and A22, the first heightwise position, and the second heightwise position. With this, it is possible to use the diagonal optical system in the bonding apparatus to further improve positional accuracy in the bonding process.

A wire bonding apparatus is provided with: a bonding stage on which a semiconductor chip is mounted; a wire bonding unit including a capillary bonding a bonding wire to the semiconductor chip, a Z-axis drive section reciprocating the capillary, and a tool XY-stage causing the capillary and the Z-axis drive section to be moved along a two-dimensional plane intersecting a direction of reciprocation; and a base having an optical system and an optical system XY-stage causing the optical system to be moved along a two-dimensional plane intersecting a direction of reciprocation, the base having the wire bonding unit attached thereto. The wire bonding unit is attached to a first portion of the base, and the optical system XY-stage is attached to a second portion of the base which is separate from the first portion.