Bond Wire Design with the Bond Calculator

A new method to calculate temperatures in bond wires surrounded by a finite mold is presented. It is faster than the usual finite element method (FEM), while giving comparable results. For some parameters FEM fails, where our method still succeeds. The algorithm is implemented in the so-called Bond Calculator, which provides an easy-to-use interface for designers of microelectronic systems. Its application bears the potential to improve the reliability of bond wires. A non-ideal parameter for the heat transfer from the bond wire to the mold package is also included. This parameter is probably prone to change under ageing influences and therefore very important for the reliability estimation. In our method the interaction between neighbouring wires is also considered. This is of increasing importance because the diameter and the mutual distances of bond wires decrease due to the ongoing miniaturization of chip packages. Our program is also able to solve for transient currents and to calculate the current belonging to a given maximum temperature.