Polyurethane spray coating of aluminum wire bonds to prevent corrosion and suppress resonant oscillations

Unencapsulated aluminum wedge wire bonds are common in particle-physics pixel and strip detectors. Industry-favored bulk encapsulation is eschewed due to the range of operating temperatures and radiation. Wire bond failures are a persistent, source of tracking detector failure Unencapsulated bonds are vulnerable to condensation-induced corrosion, particularly when halides are present. Oscillations from periodic Lorenz forces are documented as another source of wire bond failure. Spray application of polyurethane coatings, performance of polyurethane-coated wire bonds after climate chamber exposure, and resonant properties of PU-coated wire bonds and their resistance to periodic Lorenz forces will be described.