Case Study — 3D Wire Bond Inspection and Metrology

The growing amount of electronics within modern vehicles has made the inspection process for wire bonds increasingly challenging, as active devices shrink and bonds are arranged in complex ways. CyberOptics addressed the need for an automated solution to replace labor-intensive and imprecise manual inspection methods for wire bonds and loop heights. After consideration of competitive products, a large global automotive supplier selected CyberOptics’ SQ3000 3D Multi-Function system for inspection and metrology to address their wire bonding inspection needs.

Challenge
The wire bonds between semiconductor devices are trending towards micro sizes in current applications. In some cases, there are hundreds or thousands of terminations on wire bonds, which can also overlap. These bonds command stringent quality requirements and must be terminated precisely in order to produce a functional bond shape. The overall appearance and quality of the wires is crucial for successful performance—any damage can inhibit proper functionality of ICs and the systems powered by ICs. In the automotive sector, this means parts such as lighting, camera systems, and lidar sensors all rely on the quality of wire bonds.

Along with the uptick in electronics within vehicles has come the need to package increasingly more features and capability in any given area, consequently leading to smaller devices and more challenging inspection. Greater optical resolution is required to produce a high-quality image from which a reliable measurement can be derived.

Automotive suppliers have a responsibility to ensure the functionality and safety of their vehicles, and missteps in the wire bonding stage of the assembly process can have disastrous consequences in the future, potentially threatening customers’ safety and leading to recalls costing billions of dollars. One customer, a global automotive supplier, sought a system to inspect loop height and shape, bonding quality, and bonding position on wires as small as 80μm . This supplier serves large automotive brands with reputations and quality standards to uphold, and required a reliable system with advanced inspection capabilities.

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