Packaging test chip for flip-chip and wire bonding process characterization

This paper reports on the latest member of a test chip family for packaging process characterization, containing a novel flip-chip microsensor that can measure forces in all three directions, acting on each of its solder balls. The large temperature range (-40 /spl deg/C to 125 /spl deg/C) places high demand on sensor stability. Various sources for sensor offset and offset drift are identified. Applications include thermal cycling experiments of the flip-chip and detection of physical processes during wire bonding. For Au-Al bond contacts, a quality parameter can be extracted from the sensor signal.