wedge bonder – west bond

basic user manual

note: Wire bonder is a “fragile” tool. That means you may easily damage the tool or you easily fail your wire bonding process. Because of that, the shared wire bonders usually don’t work well, like the wedge bonder in FNT, both wedge bonder and ball bonder in MER. Usually, research groups have their own wire bonders, like the Ruochen Lu group, and Yaoyao Jia group. Thus, we need to treat the tool carefully and gently during using the tool.

This wedge bonder was purchased in September 2022. The tool contributed to MEMS Parametric Array a lot. Helped Xiaoyu build the 1st CMUTs parametric array with DANA dies. Besides, the tool helped test MEMS devices.

check the Nitrogen gas pressure before turning on the power knub. The gauge on the left of the tool should show pressure above 40 psi. Currently, the gauge shows N2 pressure is about 57 psi, which is good for wire bonding.
turn on the power knub

Currently, the 1st line means two bonds per wire. The tool can do 21 bonds per wire maximum. The 2nd line means the ultrasonic power and application time per contact. The 3rd line means the total bond number. The 4th line shows we can edit settings by pushing the “edit” button. The 4th line also shows the current wedge tube is 45 deg. which is good for common PCB wire bonding and common MEMS test.
adjust the height of the stage
We adjust the control arm right angle at the joint and all the way down. We observe wedge tip through the microscope. Rotate the stage knub to let the wedge tip between PCB top surface and the holder top surface.
You should be good to go for your wire bonding process. Reminder, the wedge can only move the direction away from the user!!!
Move the holder not underneath the wedge tip. This is just in case someone happens to touch the handle which damages the tip.
Shut down the power knub. You are good to leave:)