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Pressureless sinter joining of bare Cu substrates under forming gas atmosphere by surface-oxidized submicron Cu particles

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Abstract

Pressureless sinter joining of bare Cu substrates using submicron Cu particles was successfully achieved at 250–300 °C in N2–3%H2 forming gas atmosphere via the in-situ generation of Cu nanoparticles reduced from a thin oxide layer present on the surface of Cu particles. The joining strength of the Cu joints at 300 °C reached 26.2 MPa in the forming gas atmosphere, while it was 7.4 MPa under N2 gas atmosphere. Thermogravimetry–differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction showed that the natural oxide layer (Cu2O) started to reduce to Cu at approximately 220 °C only under the N2–H2 gas atmosphere. Cu sintering progressed rapidly above the reduction temperature, and the joining strength improved with increasing temperature. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated the generation of Cu nanoparticles around the submicron Cu particles and the subsequent promotion of sintering behavior. These results suggest that reduction of the initially present oxide layer on submicron Cu particles is crucial for pressureless sinter joining. Based on the reduction and sintering behavior of submicron Cu particles, pressureless sinter joining was realized at 250 °C by increasing the holding time, and the joining strength was > 18 MPa.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Materials and Manufacturing Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

    Daiki Yamagiwa, Tomoki Matsuda, Hiroaki Tatsumi, Tomokazu Sano, Yoshihiro Kashiba & Akio Hirose

  2. JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation, Hitachi, Ibaraki, 317-0056, Japan

    Hideki Furusawa & Kenji Sato

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  1. Daiki Yamagiwa
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Correspondence to Tomoki Matsuda.

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Yamagiwa, D., Matsuda, T., Furusawa, H. et al. Pressureless sinter joining of bare Cu substrates under forming gas atmosphere by surface-oxidized submicron Cu particles. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 19031–19041 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-06418-z

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