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Ag-based bonding wires were generally accepted as the most promising material to substitute for Au bonding wires, however, the electrolytic migration concern of Ag limited its industrial application in electronic packaging, especially in ultra-fine pitch wire bonding. In the present study, the electrolytic migration behaviors of Au-coated Ag bonding wires and Ag wires were studied through water drop tests. The dendrites’ growth and morphology evolution were investigated by in-situ optical microscope observation and the microstructure of the cathodic and anodic bonding wires were characterized by scanning electron microscope test. It could be seen that when comparing Au-coated Ag bonding wires with Ag wires, the dendrite assembled by a large number of Ag nanoparticles grew much more slowly from cathode to anode. The Ag2O particle layer on the anodic wires was thinner, the dendrite contact time was delayed and the current densities at the dendrite contact time were much smaller when the Au coating layer exist. The above results show that Au coating could act as a barrier to inhibit electrolytic migration, which has contributed to electronic packaging applications of Au-coated Ag bonding wires.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop high-performance Au-coated Ag alloy wires (ACAA wires) and demonstrate the effect of Au coating layers on the bonding performance and oxidation resistance for stable and reliable electronic packaging applications. Design/methodology/approach ACAA wire with a diameter of approximately 25 µm and Au layer thickness of approximately 100 nm were prepared by the continuous casting, plating and wire drawing method. The bonding performance of the ACAA wires were studied through bonding on 3,535 chips. The oxidation resistance of ACAA wires and Ag alloy wires (AA wires) were comparatively studied by means of chemical oxidation tests, accelerated life tests and electrochemical tests systematically. Findings ACAA wires could form axi-symmetrical spherical free air balls with controllable diameter of 1.5∼2.5 times of the wire diameter after electric flame-off process. The ball shear strength of ACAA wire was higher than that of AA wires. Most importantly, because of the surface Au coating layer, the oxidation resistance of ACAA wires was much enhanced. Research limitations/implications ACAA wires with different lengths of heat affected zone were not developed in this study, which limited their application with different loop height requirements. Practical implications With higher bonding strength and oxidation resistance, ACAA wires would be a better choice than previous reported AA wire in chip packaging which require high stability and reliability. Originality/value This paper provides a kind of novel ACAA wire, which possess the merits of high bonding strength and reliability, and show great potential in electronic packaging applications.

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