Title: Next level of productivity through capillary life extension with automatic capillary cleaning

Abstract

In semiconductor industry, wire bonding is often one of the bottleneck processes. This has posed a tremendous challenge in the wire bond interconnect technology to reduce the assembly cycle time and cost of ownership. Nevertheless, long-life capillary is one of the key factors to the success of advanced wire bonding solution. The tool life of the capillary is defined as the maximum bond number before the bond quality produced by the capillary is deemed unacceptable. Depending on the type of material and bonding condition, the tool life of a capillary can vary from a few hundred thousand bonds to more than 1 million bonds. Capillary suppliers are constantly developing state-of-art process and material to enhance the sub-surface properties of the ceramic based material. However, load-up on the capillary tip surface is inevitable as the bond touchdown increases. This is mainly due to the scrubbing action of the capillary from the ultrasonic energy applied in the process of making bonds. As the load-up amount increases, bond quality is affected. To drive value through innovation, Automatic Capillary Cleaning System (ACC) is introduced to extend capillary lifespan by 8 times; from 800 thousand to 7 million bonds. With clear structured systematic & analytical approach, Automatic Capillary Cleaning System not only reduced the capillary usage but also reduced more than 60% of time taken for Capillary Change Activity which improved wire bond Overall Equipment Effectiveness by 3%.