Overview of wire bonding using copper wire or insulated wire

Wire bonding using copper or insulated wire leads to many advantages and new challenges. Research is intensively performed worldwide, leading to many new findings and solutions. This article reviews recent advances in wire bonding using copper wire or insulated wire for advanced microelectronics packaging. Journal articles, conference articles and patents published or issued recently are reviewed. The benefits and problems/challenges related to wire bonding using copper wire or insulated wire such as wire open and short tail defects, poor bondability for stitch/wedge bonds, oxidation of Cu wire, and stiff wire on weak support structures, are briefly analyzed. A number of solutions to the problems and recent findings/developments related to wire bonding using copper wire or insulated wire are discussed. With the references provided, readers may explore more deeply by reading the original articles and patent documents. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.