A wire guide module for an ultrasonic wire bonder, comprising a body made of a thermally stable metallic and/or ceramic material, wherein an elongated wire feed-through channel having a wire inlet opening and having a wire outlet opening is provided on the body, and comprising a guide tube provided in the wire feed-through channel. In addition, the invention relates to a thermosonic wire bonder having a wire guide module.

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).

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).

Disclosed is a leakage detection system (200) and a leakage detection method for detecting leakage in a gas supply system (10) comprising a gas source (11; 12) connected to a gas delivery module (14) by a pipeline. The leakage detection system (200) comprises a flow meter (113) connectable along the pipeline remotely from an inlet of the gas delivery module (14); and a detection module (110) configured to receive signals representing a measured flow rate from the flow meter (113), and to compare the measured flow rate (115) to a stored leakage-free reference value (116) to detect an increase in flow rate in the presence of a leak. A flow resistance between the detection module (110) and an outlet of the gas delivery module (14) amplifies the increase in flow rate in the presence of a leak. The system (200) may comprise a flow rate elevation system (121) connectable between the gas source (11; 12) and the flow meter (113) for temporarily increasing the flow rate in the pipeline.