Bond properties were performed on Ag-2.35Au-0.7Pd-0.2Pt-0.1Cu alloy wire with a diameter of 25 µm under different process parameters. The effects of electrical flaming off (EFO) current and EFO time on the deformability of the free air ball (FAB) were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as the effects of ultrasonic power and bonding force on the bond characteristic. The experimental results show that FAB grows from a preheated tip to a small ball, a regular ball, and finally to a golf ball with increasing either the EFO current or the EFO time, and the FAB presents an optimal shape at 25 mA and 650 μs. Moreover, a nonlinear relationship between FAB diameter and EFO time is obtained at an EFO current of 25 mA, which could be expressed by a cubic equation. Further, at a constant bonding force, as the ultrasonic power increased, the mashed ball diameter grew larger and larger, the capillary hole imprint became more and more obvious, and the tail width also increased, and vice versa. The optimal ultrasonic power and bonding force are 70 mW and 45 gf for ball bonding and 90 mW and 75 gf for wedge bonding, respectively. Finally, for all the bonded wire samples prepared under optimal process parameters, no ball and wedge bond lifts happened after the destructive pull test, and full intermetallic compound coverage with perfect morphology occurred on the bond pad after the ball shear test, which meant that the bonded wire samples had high bond strength and hence improved the reliability of microelectronic products. It provided technical support for the reliability research of Pt-containing Ag-based bonding alloy wires.
Keywords: EFO current; EFO time; bond properties; bonding force; ultrasonic power.