Kazuhiro Miyauchi

Self-assembly of Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu Solder in Thermoplastic Resin Containing Carboxyl Group and its Interconnection

The self-assembly of solder powder on pads is attractive as a novel interconnection method between chips and substrates. However, the solder used in this method is limited to Sn-58Bi and Sn-52In. In contrast, Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu has been relatively less studied despite its wide use as a lead-free solder in assembling semiconductor packages. Hence, here, polymeric materials incorporating Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu solder powder were investigated for the self-assembly of the solder on pads at temperatures up to 260°C in a lead-free reflow process. The self-assembly of the solder was observed with an optical microscope through transparent glass chips placed on substrates covered with the polymeric materials incorporating the solder powder. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements were performed to confirm the behaviors of the reaction of the resins and the melting of the solder. When epoxy resin with a fluxing additive was used as a matrix, self-assembly of the solder was prevented by the cross-linking reaction. Conversely, when thermoplastic resin containing carboxyl groups was used as a matrix, the self-assembly of solder was successfully achieved in the absence of fluxing additives. The shear strength of interconnection using reflowfilm with lamination was sufficient and significantly increased during the reflow process. However, the shear strength of the reflowfilm showed cohesive failure, possibly because of the brittle intermetallic compounds (Ag3Sn, Au4Sn) network in bulk was lower than that of conventional solder paste that showed interfacial failure after the reflow process with a rapid cooling rate.