Tamal, You sent me this e-mail a long time ago. I have finally gotten together all the information on wire bonding, and here it is. I know the MEMS lab just got a new wire bonder, but I thought people might still want the information. I am making my own packages, 3 mm in size, using mostly conventional machining, and I have found that when dealing with the frustrations of homemade packages, having someone else do the wire bonding is worth it. These are the places that say they will accept wire bonding jobs using prototype packages. I am having my wire bonding done at Case Western Reserve University. They charge about $50 per chip, but there is no minimum quantity and they are very open to trying multiple versions of a package until all the problems are worked out. For comparison purposes, my packages require 5 wire bonds each. Wire bonding options: Edison Welding Institute www.ewi.org Contact: Kevin Ely (614-688-5093, kevin_ely@ewi.org) Not so good about getting back to you Silitronics, Inc. Contact: Bill (408-360-9100, bill@silitronics.com) $375 for 3 chips, 2-4 days $500 for 15 chips, 3-5 days Can do wire bonding through MEMS Exchange Case Western Reserve University MEMS Resource Contact: Alex Smith (216-368-0265, aks@po.cwru.edu) $50 per chip, 1-3 weeks Can use them through MEMS Exchange or directly Solid State Testing Contact: John Bishop (781-272-0972, jbishop@solidstatetesting.com) Minimum charge of $650 For 100 chips, $15 each MCNC www.mcnc.org Contact: Richard LaBennett (919-248-9287, labennett@mcnc.org) $250/hr I have also found a company called Form Cut Industries that sells pins like those found in the chip packages in the lab. These can be used to make packages of one's own design. The cost is $600 for 1,000 pins. Bambi Brewer