New Tool

F&S 56i Wire Bonder SOP#: OAS-PF-0210-00

User Responsibility, Training, and Consequences of Misuse

OASIS prototyping facility, Protofab, operates as a shared research and prototyping facility. All users are expected to follow this SOP, facility policies, and applicable safety guidelines to ensure safe operation, equipment longevity, and equitable access for all users.

This SOP is not a substitute for hands-on training or tool qualification. Refer to User’s Manual and Guides for details.

Users must complete required Protofab training and receive authorization prior to independent tool use. In the event of misuse, unintentional error, or non-compliance, corrective actions will be educational, proportional, and focused on preventing recurrence, taking into account the user’s experience level and the nature of the issue.

Corrective actions may include:

• Clarification or coaching on proper tool use
• Additional training or temporary supervision
• Temporary suspension of independent tool access
• Restriction to supervised use until competency is re-established

Users may be held responsible for repair, cleaning, or downtime costs only in cases of negligence or repeated misuse.

Purpose

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) defines the safe and proper use of the F&S Automatic wire bonding system within Protofab. This tool is used to create fine-wire electrical interconnections for microelectronic, optoelectronic, and hybrid devices.

Scope

This SOP applies to routine wire bonding operations, including setup, alignment, and bonding of approved materials by trained and authorized users. Advanced wafer level process development, non-standard configurations, maintenance, or hardware modifications are outside the scope of this SOP and require prior approval from Protofab staff.

Safety & EHS

• PPE such as protective eyewear is mandatory except while using microscope eyepieces. Refer to facility rules for details.

• Hot Surface: The bonding workholder, heater stage, and adjacent components may reach elevated temperatures during operation. Contact with heated surfaces can result in skin burns. Users should assume all heated components remain hot until confirmed otherwise.
• Sharp Objects: Fine bonding wire, capillaries, wedges, broken wire ends, and sample edges may be sharp. Contact with these components can result in cuts or puncture injuries. Tweezers, needles, and other hand tools used during setup also present puncture hazards.
• Shrapnel/Flying Debris: Improper bonding parameters, capillary damage, wire breakage, or sample fracture may generate small fragments or debris. These fragments may become airborne at close range and pose a risk to eyes or skin.
• Electrical and Mechanical Motion: The bonding head, stages, and wire clamp move during operation and may pinch or strike hands or tools. Electrical components are present within the system enclosure.

1. Tool Overview

• XY motor driven table with 100x100mm travel range
• Digital Ultrasonic Generator
• 100x100mm heated workholder
• Singlewire Bond Mode: Ideal for prototyping. A wire connection is made between two points, which are approached by the user with the joystick for each wire separately without having to create a bonding program with chips and wires on beforehand.

• Multiwire Bond Mode: A complex bonding program with chips and wires is created to set the system ready for production level. The machine then executes image recognition program as often as required so places the bonds precisely in the previously taught positions.

• Step-Mode: This mode splits the bond cycle into its individual parts to view them. This mode is often used for first bonding attempts to get an exact overview of the bonding process. Applies to both single/multiwire modes.

Bond Heads and Modules

• Ball-Wedge and Bumping Bonding
  • Gold wire 12,5-50 µm
  • Placement accuracy: +/- 5 µm
  • Repeatability: +/- 3 µm
  • Loop height accuracy: +/- 5 µm

• Wedge-Wedge, Deep Access, Bonding
  • Aluminum and gold wire 12,5-75µm
  • Ribbons from 30x12,5µm to 250x25µm
  • Placement accuracy: +/- 5 µm
  • Repeatability: +/- 3 µm
  • Loop height accuracy: +/- 5 µm

• Die Shear and Wire Pull Force Tester
  • Wire Pull up to 100gf
  • Ball/Die Shear up to 500gf
  • Die Shear up to 5000gf

Tool Overview

Pre-use checks (before every run)

• Verify utilities (power/CDA/vacuum) in range
• Visual inspection: E.g., Cleanliness of workholder.
• Verify that the correct bond head or module is installed. Contact Protofab staff if not.
• Verify Tooling (Wedge, capillaries & Pull/Shear)
• Verify calibration status (if applicable)