Patent ID: 7083757

Claim:
A method for producing tools or blanks for tools of reduced dimensions for use in the assembly and interconnection of semiconductor chips, comprising: a. providing at least one sinterable material in fine particulate form and at least one degradable organic thermoplastic material, b. mixing an accurately determined volume of said sinterable particulate material or materials with an accurately determined volume of said thermoplastic material or materials to form a thermoplastic compound, c. forming said thermoplastic compound into green semiconductor wire bonding tools or blanks for semiconductor wire bonding tools, and d. extracting substantially all of the organic thermoplastic material from said green tools or blanks and sintering the thus obtained organic-free preforms into dense end products of reduced dimensions; wherein the action of extracting substantially all of the organic thermoplastic material from said green tools or blanks and sintering the thus obtained organic-free preforms into dense end products of reduced dimensions results in dense end products comprising tools for semiconductor wire bonding that respectively include at least one borehole having final dimensions such that bonding wire for bonding semiconductor wires may pass during bonding, and wherein the action of extracting substantially all of the organic thermoplastic material from said green tools or blanks and sintering the thus obtained organic-free performs into dense end products of reduced dimensions includes obtaining the final dimensions of the at least one borehole during sintering.