Doped and low-alloyed gold bonding wires

Abstract

Fine gold wires with diameters down to 15μm are used for bonding semiconductor devices. Increasing miniaturization of electronic circuits calls for smaller wire diameters. This requires the development of gold wires with increased mechanical strength and good bondability to replace thicker wire diameters without detriment to their functionality. The first gold bonding wires were pure gold, and then doped gold wires of high purity were developed because of their stabilized and improved mechanical characteristics. Nowadays and in die near future low alloyed gold wires are increasingly replacing doped gold wires. This paper gives an overview of the mechanical characteristics of doped and low-alloyed gold bonding wires and their bondability.