High frequency, low temperature thermosonic ribbon bonding process for system-level applications
First Claim
1. A method of bonding a ribbon conductor to conductive bonding sites of a plurality of components of a support structure, said components having characteristics which become degraded at a temperature above a prescribed temperature, comprising the steps of:
- (a) heating said support structure to a temperature no greater than said prescribed temperature;
(b) bringing a respective section of said ribbon conductor into contact with a respective one of said conductive bonding sites, and ultrasonically vibrating said respective section of said ribbon conductor to effect a thermosonic bond of said respective section of said ribbon conductor to said respective one of said conductive bonding sites; and
(c) repeating step (b) for additional ones of said conductive bonding sites.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A thermosonic ribbon bonding process uses a combination of a relatively low temperature and a high frequency to bond a ribbon conductor to conductive bonding sites of a system level support structure, such as a space/airborne antenna, containing circuit components whose characteristics might otherwise be degraded at an elevated temperature customarily used in device-level thermosonic bonding processes. By relatively low temperature is meant a temperature no greater than the minimum temperature that would potentially cause a modification of the circuit parameters of at least one of the system'"'"'s components. Such a minimum temperature may lie in a range on the order of 25-85° C., while the ultrasonic bonding frequency preferably lies in a range of from 122 KHz to 140 KHz. For gold ribbon to gold pad bonds, this high frequency range achieves the requisite atomic diffusion bonding energy, without causing fracturing or destruction of the gold ribbon or its interface with the gold pad.
82 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of bonding a ribbon conductor to conductive bonding sites of a plurality of components of a support structure, said components having characteristics which become degraded at a temperature above a prescribed temperature, comprising the steps of:
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(a) heating said support structure to a temperature no greater than said prescribed temperature; (b) bringing a respective section of said ribbon conductor into contact with a respective one of said conductive bonding sites, and ultrasonically vibrating said respective section of said ribbon conductor to effect a thermosonic bond of said respective section of said ribbon conductor to said respective one of said conductive bonding sites; and (c) repeating step (b) for additional ones of said conductive bonding sites. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for bonding a ribbon conductor to conductive bonding sites of a plurality of components of a support structure, said components having characteristics which become degraded at a temperature above a prescribed temperature, comprising:
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a heat source which is operative to heat said support structure to a temperature no greater than said prescribed temperature; a bonding head assembly, which is operative to bring a respective section of said ribbon conductor into contact with a respective one of said conductive bonding sites, and imparts ultrasonic energy to said respective section of said ribbon conductor at a frequency that effects a thermosonic bond of said respective section of said ribbon conductor to said respective one of said conductive bonding sites. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification