Removing Gold Ball Bonds from an IC Chip

Apparently, click here to follow link

A discussion of MANY ways to remove components

The bonds are made with ultrasonics and heat. They can be removed but there is always a chance you will damage the pad beyond repair. We work with die and sometimes have to remove bonds from the die. We are very experienced but we still loose a few.

Generally you simply grasp the ball with tweezers and gentlt wiggle and lift or some peolpe prefer to just use an edge to lift a little at a time around all sides of the ball until it pops off.