Reliability of an ultra-fine-pitch COF flip-chip package using non-conductive paste

Abstract

Ultra-fine-pitch chip-on-film (COF) packages such as display-drive-integrated circuit (DDI) modules are manufactured through an underfill process following Au-to-Sn thermo-compression bonding. As the interconnection pitch becomes finer and is reduced to less than 25 um, however, an alternative flip-chip technology, such as non-conductive paste (NCP) bonding, is needed in place of the capillary underfill process. In this study, new NCP formulations are investigated to achieve rapid curing at a temperature high enough to form a metallic bond between the bump and the pad. An appropriate curing agent was determined through a dielectric analysis (DEA). COF samples were prepared with a DDI chip 11,772 × 924 um in size and with a 38 um-thick polyimide flexible printed circuit by both NCP bonding and thermo-compressionunderfill processes. Pressure cooker tests lasting as long as 192 h revealed that the reliability of the NCP sample against high temperatures and high humidity levels exceeded somewhat that of the underfill sample. In thermal cycling test up to 500 cycles, however, the reliability of the NCP sample was inferior to that of the underfill sample. It was considered that unbonded faults and NCP trapping at the bump-to-pad joint were responsible for the premature failure of the NCP sample under a thermal cycling condition.