This research addresses two discrete problems that have arisen in the automated machinery that performs the die and wire bonding operations in microelectronic manufacturing with very high throughput. The problems in machine design are a result of inadequate fundamental understanding of problems in heat transfer and metal to metal and metal to semiconductor bonding partly due to diffusion at the material interface. The research considers each of these problems and addresses the solution through a combined experimental program with physical/numerical modeling. Laboratory facilities are available for the experimental research and access to large scale computers is available for the numerical modeling.
