Patent ID: 7899239

Claim:
An inspection method of a bonded status of a ball bonded to a pad of a semiconductor chip in wire bonding which attains wiring between the pad of the semiconductor chip and an external electrode, wherein an image of a bonding portion between the pad and the ball is illuminated and images are taken by an image taking means and the images taken by the image taking means are image processed to detect the bonded status of the ball by a control unit for selecting a color of illumination, movement of the image taking means and processing of the taken images, the method comprising: utilizing coaxial light parallel to an optical axis of a lens of the image taking means as illumination light illuminating the bonding portion between the pad and the ball; automatically switching the color of the coaxial illumination light between a plurality of different colors depending on details of the inspection of physical characteristics of the bonded status, wherein the details of the inspection of the bonded status include at least detections of each one of an in-focus height of the pad, an in-focus height of an upper surface of the bonded ball, an external diameter of the bonded ball and a ball bonded point; and automatically processing respective images taken at selected colors to determine a height of the pad, a height of an upper surface of the bonded ball, a diameter of the bonded ball and a diameter of the ball bonded point.