Numerical and statistical investigation of weld formation in a novel two-dimensional copper-copper bonding process

State-of-the-art industrial compact high power electronic packages require copper-copper interconnections with larger cross sections made by ultrasonic bonding. In comparison to aluminium-copper, copper-copper interconnections require increased normal forces and ultrasonic power, which might lead to substrate damage due to increased mechanical stresses. One option to raise friction energy without increasing vibration amplitude between wire and substrate or bonding force is the use of two-dimensional vibration. The first part of this contribution reports on the development of a novel bonding system that executes two-dimensional vibrations of a tool-tip to bond a nail- like pin onto a copper substrate. Since intermetallic bonds only form properly when surfaces are clean, oxide free and activated, the geometries of tool-tip and pin were optimised using finite element analysis. To maximize the area of the bonded annulus the distribution of normal pressure was optimized by varying the convexity of the bottom side of the pin. Second, a statistical model obtained from an experimental parameter study shows the influence of different bonding parameters on the bond result. To find bonding parameters with the minimum number of tests, the experiments have been planned using a D-optimal experimental design approach.