Methods relating to intermetallic testing of bond integrity between bond pads and copper-containing bond wires

• Main Authors: LAW LAI CHENG, WONG BOH KID, YAP WENG F
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 03.06.2014
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

Methods relating to intermetallic compound testing of copper-based wire bonds are provided. For example, a method is generally provided for testing the integrity of wire bonds formed between copper-containing wires and the bond pads of a plurality of microelectronic devices. In one embodiment, the method includes selecting at least one wire bond sample produced in conjunction with the wire bonds formed between the copper-containing wires and the bond pads of the microelectronic devices. One or more copper-containing wires of the wire bond sample are contacted with a liquid copper etchant, which contains a sulfate-based oxidizing agent dissolved in a solvent, to cause separation of the copper-containing wires from the bond pads and exposure of the underlying wire-pad interfaces. Intermetallic compounds formed at the exposed wire-pad interfaces are then measured to assess the integrity of the wire bonds.