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Sintering Mechanism of Bimodal-Sized Cu Nanoparticle Paste for Power Electronics Packaging

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Abstract

The sintering process of Cu nanoparticles is challenging due to the oxidation of Cu and the formation of voids in the die-attach layer. In this work, a simple and cost-effective bimodal-sized Cu composite paste was prepared for a high-strength Cu-Cu joint. The joint microstructure and sintering properties were systematically investigated by adjusting the mass ratio of the particle dimensions from 80 nm to 300 nm and varying the sintering parameters. Die attachment by pressure (20 MPa)-assisted sintering in air at 250°C was rapidly achieved using bimodal-sized Cu particles. The joint sintered for 1 min exhibited shear strength of 85.63 MPa, while 5-min sintering was able to obtain a dense bondline structure, and the shear strength reached 102.46 MPa. The sintered layers in nitrogen had the highest thermal conductivity of 284 W/m K and low resistivity of 4.42 µΩ cm. These results confirm that bimodal-sized Cu composite paste can be considered as an inexpensive potential die-attach material for high-temperature electronics packaging.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the R&D Program of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission (KZ202210005005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52205324), and the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (L233038).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Materials and Manufacturing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Limin Ma, Ziyi Lu, Qiang Jia, Ze Cui, Yishu Wang, Dan Li & Fu Guo

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Hongqiang Zhang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Turbomachinery Power Equipment, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Guisheng Zou

  4. School of Mechanical Electrical Engineering, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing, 100192, China

    Fu Guo

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  1. Limin Ma
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Ma, L., Lu, Z., Jia, Q. et al. Sintering Mechanism of Bimodal-Sized Cu Nanoparticle Paste for Power Electronics Packaging. J. Electron. Mater. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-024-11021-z

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