The present invention provides a bonding wire capable of simultaneously satisfying ball bonding reliability and wedge bondability required of bonding wires for memories, the bonding wire including a core material containing one or more of Ga, In, and Sn for a total of 0.1 to 3.0 at % with a balance being made up of Ag and incidental impurities; and a coating layer formed over a surface of the core material, containing one or more of Pd and Pt, or Ag and one or more of Pd and Pt, with a balance being made up of incidental impurities, wherein the coating layer is 0.005 to 0.070 μm in thickness.

The present invention provides a bonding wire capable of simultaneously satisfying ball bonding reliability and wedge bondability required of bonding wires for memories, the bonding wire including a core material containing one or more of Ga, In, and Sn for a total of 0.1 to 3.0 at % with a balance being made up of Ag and incidental impurities; and a coating layer formed over a surface of the core material, containing one or more of Pd and Pt, or Ag and one or more of Pd and Pt, with a balance being made up of incidental impurities, wherein the coating layer is 0.005 to 0.070 m in thickness.

A discharge examination device for examining discharge of a wire-bonding apparatus that applies a voltage between a torch electrode and a wire to procure the discharge therebetween includes a current detection unit, a timer unit and a discharge determination unit. The current detection unit detects a discharge current flowing through the wire. The timer unit measures discharge detection time after application of the voltage before detection of the discharge current. The discharge determination unit determines whether or not the discharge is abnormal based on the discharge detection time. With this, a discharge examination device, a wire-bonding apparatus, and a discharge examination method that are capable of detecting abnormality of discharge are provided.

A method of operating a wire bonding machine is provided. The method includes the steps of: (a) attempting to bond a free air ball to a first bonding location using a wire bonding tool; (b) detecting that the free air ball was not properly bonded to the first bonding location in step (a); (c) bonding the free air ball to a second bonding location; (d) raising the wire bonding tool, with a wire engaged with the wire bonding tool continuous with the bonded free air ball, to a position above the bonded free air ball; (e) weakening a neck portion of a wire above the free air ball after step (d); and (f) separating the bonded free air ball from the wire after step (e) such that a wire tail extends below a tip of a wire bonding tool.

There is provided a novel Cu bonding wire that achieves a favorable FAB shape and achieves a favorable bond reliability of the 2nd bonded part even in a rigorous high-temperature environment. The bonding wire for semiconductor devices is characterized in that the bonding wire includes: a core material of Cu or Cu alloy; and a coating layer containing conductive metal other than Cu formed on a surface of the core material, wherein the coating layer has a region containing Pd as a main component on a core material side, and has a region containing Ni and Pd in a range from a wire surface to a depth of 0.5 d when a thickness of the coating layer is defined as d (nm) in a thickness direction of the coating layer, the thickness d of the coating layer is 10 nm or more and 130 nm or less, a ratio C.sub.Ni/C.sub.Pd of a concentration C.sub.Ni (mass %) of Ni to a concentration C.sub.Pd (mass %) of Pd relative to the entire wire is 0.02 or more and 0.7 or less, a position indicating a maximum concentration of Ni is present in the range from the wire surface to a depth of 0.5 d in a concentration profile in a depth direction of the wire, and the maximum concentration of Ni is 10 atomic % or more, and at least one of the following conditions (i) and (ii) is satisfied: (i) a concentration of In relative to the entire wire is 1 ppm by mass or more and 100 ppm by mass or less (ii) a concentration of Ag relative to the entire wire is 1 ppm by mass or more and 500 ppm by mass or less.

The bonding wire for semiconductor devices includes a core material of Cu or Cu alloy and a coating layer containing conductive metal other than Cu formed on a surface of the core material. The coating layer has a region containing Ni as a main component on a core material side, and has a region containing Au and Ni on a wire surface side, in a thickness direction of the coating layer, a thickness of the coating layer is 10 nm or more and 130 nm or less, a ratio of a concentration C.sub.Au (mass %) of Au to a concentration C.sub.Ni (mass %) of Ni relative to the entire wire is 0.02<C.sub.Au/C.sub.Ni?0.7, and a concentration of Au at the surface of the wire is 10 atomic % or more and 90 atomic % or less.

A bonding wire includes a core material of Cu or Cu alloy, and a coating layer containing a conductive metal other than Cu on a surface of the core material. In a concentration profile in a depth direction of the wire obtained, an average value of sum of a Pd concentration C.sub.Pd (atomic %) and an Ni concentration C.sub.Ni (atomic %) for measurement points in the coating layer is 50 atomic % or more, an average value of a ratio of C.sub.Pd to C.sub.Ni for measurement points in the coating layer is from 0.2 to 20 and a thickness of the coating layer is from 20 nm to 180 nm. An Au concentration C.sub.Au at a surface of the wire is from 10 atomic % to 85 atomic %. An average size of crystal grains in a circumferential direction of the wire is from 35 nm to 200 nm.

To provide a novel Cu bonding wire that achieves a favorable FAB shape and a favorable bondability of the 2nd bonded part, and further achieves favorable bond reliability even in a rigorous high-temperature environment. The bonding wire for semiconductor devices includes: a core material of Cu or Cu alloy; and a coating layer containing conductive metal other than Cu formed on a surface of the core material, wherein the coating layer has a region containing Ni as a main component on a core material side, and has a region containing Au and Ni on a wire surface side, in a thickness direction of the coating layer, a thickness of the coating layer is 10 nm or more and 130 nm or less, a ratio C.sub.Au/C.sub.Ni of a concentration C.sub.Au (mass %) of Au to a concentration C.sub.Ni (mass %) of Ni relative to the entire wire is 0.02 or more and 0.7 or less, a concentration of Au at the surface of the wire is 10 atomic % or more and 90 atomic % or less, and at least one of the following conditions (i) and (ii) is satisfied: (i) a concentration of In relative to the entire wire is 1 ppm by mass or more and 100 ppm by mass or less (ii) a concentration of Ag relative to the entire wire is 1 ppm by mass or more and 500 ppm by mass or less.

A bonding wire includes a core material of Cu or Cu alloy, and a coating layer containing a conductive metal other than Cu on a surface of the core material. In a concentration profile in a depth direction of the wire obtained, an average value of sum of a Pd concentration C.sub.Pd (atomic %) and an Ni concentration C.sub.Ni (atomic %) for measurement points in the coating layer is 50 atomic % or more, an average value of a ratio of C.sub.Pd to C.sub.Ni for measurement points in the coating layer is from 0.2 to 20 and a thickness of the coating layer is from 20 nm to 180 nm. An Au concentration C.sub.Au at a surface of the wire is from 10 atomic % to 85 atomic %. An average size of crystal grains in a circumferential direction of the wire is from 35 nm to 200 nm.

To provide an Al bonding wire satisfying excellent temperature cycle reliability and a favorable 1st bondability. The Al bonding wire contains 3.0% by mass or more and 10.0% by mass or less of Si, and an average diameter of a Si phase in a cross section (L cross-section) in a center axis direction including a wire center axis of the Al alloy bonding wire is equal to or larger than 0.8 m and equal to or smaller than 5.5 m.