Fatigue Strength of Ribbon Bonds
Ribbon or wire bonding is a common manufacturing process used in the microelectronic industry to make interconnections between electronic components. This process is used because it can make up for misalignment and inconsistent spacing between the components due to tolerance stack ups. In addition, since the ribbons are not rigid they will flex and absorb any stresses that develop when the components expand and contract in the field due to temperature changes. This paper investigates the use of a mechanical method to exercise ribbons in this fashion until they failed. Ribbons of a constant profile but different sizes were exercised at different levels of stress to develop a fatigue life model. It is found that ribbons exercised only a small percentage of their overall span survive exponentially longer than the same ribbons exercised at a higher percentage of their overall span. In addition, at short span lengths relative to the thickness, the ribbon becomes less ‘thread like’ and more stiff. The model developed in this study can be used for designing ribbon size and shape based upon expected thermal expansion cycling and necessary life or reliability.