A method for forming a semiconductor structure includes forming a bond pad over a last metal layer of the semiconductor structure wherein the bond pad includes a wire bond region; and recessing the wire bond region such that the wire bond region has a first thickness and a region of the bond pad outside the wire bond region has a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness.

Various embodiments provide a method of forming a bondpad, wherein the method comprises providing a raw bondpad, and forming a recess structure at a contact surface of the raw bondpad, wherein the recess structure comprises sidewalls being inclined with respect to the contact surface.

A semiconductor device according to an embodiment comprises a substrate, an epitaxial layer on the substrate, and a cluster including a plurality of particles disposed on the epitaxial layer, the particles being disposed to be apart from each other, and contacting the epitaxial layer.

A semiconductor device includes a shielding wire formed across a semiconductor die and an auxiliary wire supporting the shielding wire, thereby reducing the size of a package while shielding the electromagnetic interference generated from the semiconductor die. In one embodiment, the semiconductor device includes a substrate having at least one circuit device mounted thereon, a semiconductor die spaced apart from the circuit device and mounted on the substrate, a shielding wire spaced apart from the semiconductor die and formed across the semiconductor die, and an auxiliary wire supporting the shielding wire under the shielding wire and formed to be perpendicular to the shielding wire. In another embodiment, a bump structure is used to support the shielding wire. In a further embodiment, an auxiliary wire includes a bump structure portion and wire portion and both the bump structure portion and the wire portion are used to support the shielding wire.

Electrode pads disposed on a first surface of a semiconductor element include a first pad located close to a corner and a second pad located apart from the corner compared with the first pad. A first wire connected to the first pad has a smaller Young's modulus than a second wire connected to the second pad. A thickness of an intermetallic compound layer formed by the first wire and the first pad is larger than a thickness of an intermetallic compound layer formed by the second wire and the second pad.

This wire bonding apparatus has a capillary, a movement mechanism moving the capillary, and a control unit controlling driving of the movement mechanism. The control unit at least causes execution of: a first process (trajectory a) of lowering the capillary, after a FAB is formed, to pressure bonding height at a first bonding point to form a pressure bonded ball and a column part at the first bonding point; a second process (trajectory b) of moving the capillary horizontally at the pressure bonding height after execution of the first process to scarp off the column part by the capillary; and a third process (trajectory c-k) of repeating a pressing operation at least once after execution of the second process, the pressing operation involving moving the capillary forward and lowering the capillary temporarily during movement so that the capillary presses down on a wire portion positioned over the pressure bonded ball.

A semiconductor device includes a first insulating layer, wire contacts spaced apart from each other by the first insulating layer, and a bonding wire connected to the wire contacts. Each of the wire contacts includes a base part in the first insulating layer and a protrusion part protruding from inside to outside the first insulating layer. The protrusion parts of the wire contacts are in contact with the bonding wire.

A palladium-coated copper bonding wire includes: a core material containing copper as a main component; and a palladium layer on the core material, in which a concentration of palladium relative to the entire wire is 1.0 mass % or more and 4.0 mass % or less, and a work hardening coefficient in an amount of change of an elongation rate 2% or more and a maximum elongation rate εmax % or less of the wire, is 0.20 or less.

The bonding wire being a Pd-coated copper bonding wire includes: a copper core material; and a Pd layer and containing a sulfur group element, in which with respect to the total of copper, Pd, and the sulfur group element, a concentration of Pd is 1.0 mass % to 4.0 mass % and a total concentration of the sulfur group element is 50 mass ppm or less, and a concentration of S is 5 mass ppm to 2 mass ppm, a concentration of Se is 5 mass ppm to 20 mass ppm, or a concentration of Te is 15 mass ppm to 50 mass ppm or less. A wire bonding structure includes a Pd-concentrated region with the concentration of Pd being 2.0 mass % or more relative to the total of Al, copper, and Pd near a bonding surface of an Al-containing electrode of a semiconductor chip and a ball bonding portion.

A semiconductor device of an embodiment includes: a semiconductor substrate; a first insulating layer provided on or above the semiconductor substrate; an aluminum layer provided on the first insulating layer; a second insulating layer provided on the first insulating layer, the second insulating layer covering a first region of a surface of the aluminum layer; and an aluminum oxide film provided on a second region other than the first region of the surface of the aluminum layer, the aluminum oxide film including α-alumina as a main component, and a film thickness of the aluminum oxide film being equal to or larger than 0.5 nm and equal to or smaller than 3 nm.