Thick film technology is based on a paste containing glass frit that is screen printed and fused at high temperature onto various ceramic substrate materials. Softening or melting this glassy frit forms a cohesive layer, binding the conductors, resistors or dielectric materials to the ceramic. The dynamics of the printing process and inherent number of associated variables negatively impact the uniformity of the fired surface on a micro scale, which can lead to variation in the wire bonding process. Other processes associated with thick film substrate fabrication can cause problems as well. Laser trimming is used to adjust the value of printed resistors to meet design requirements. This ablation of printed resistors by high–powered pulse laser leaves a halo of debris and contamination on the ceramic substrate, which can cause wire bond lifting. In this paper, we will demonstrate a way to eliminate these problems using a bonding technique called Stand- Off Stitch bonding (SOS). This wire bond type is formed by first placing a ball bump at the second bond, or stitch, location on the thick film substrate, and then forming a normal wire that terminates on that bump. This places two ball bumps at each end of the wire, similar to a security bond. However, the ball bump is located under the stitch instead of on top. This SOS wire bond technique is compliant with the MIL-STD- 883 for a compound bond, where one bond is placed on top of another bond. With the gold bump placed on top of the gold thick film pad, the bump acts as a foundation for the stitch bond, providing a wider contact area and clean bond surface to secure a reliable stitch bond interconnect. With this change, an abrupt improvement to the resultant destruct wire pull tests can be achieved, promoting a robust, controlled process for wire bond interconnects.
Sheared Thick‐Film Electrode Materials Containing Silver Powders with Nanoscale Surface Asperities Improve Solar Cell Performance