Abstract
A solid-state bonding technique using fine-grained silver (Ag) foils is presented. The Ag foils are manufactured using many runs of cold rolling and subsequent annealing processes to achieve the favorable microstructure. X-ray diffraction and pole figure measurement are performed to examine the crystal structure and grain orientations. Si chips are bonded to bare Cu substrates using the Ag foil as the bonding medium at 300 °C in 0.1 torr vacuum assisted by 6.9 MPa static pressure, which is much lower than that used in conventional thermal compression bonding. Cross sections prepared by focus ion beam show clear bonding interfaces with only a few voids smaller than 100 nm. The bonded structures do not crack after cooling down to room temperature, indicating that the ductile Ag layer is able to manage the strain induced by the large coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between Si and Cu. The average shear strength of as-bonded samples is 29 MPa. High-temperature storage tests are conducted, and slight increase in strength can be observed after 300 °C aging. Fracture analyses show that the breakage occurs within the Ag foil rather than on the bonding interface. Transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (TEM/EDX) are conducted for Ag/Cu interface after 200-h aging, and the result shows that slight diffusion proceeds during the aging. Since Ag has the highest electrical and thermal conductivities among metals, therefore the bonded structures reported in this paper probably represent the best possible design for high-temperature and high-power electronic packaging applications.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beckwith R (2013) Downhole electronic components: achieving performance reliability. J Pet Technol 65:42–57
Bernstein L (1966) Semiconductor joining by the solid-liquid-interdiffusion (SLID) process I. The systems Ag–In, Au–In, and Cu–In. J Electrochem Soc 113:1282–1288
Li X, Cai J, Sohn Y, Wang Q, Kim W, Wang S, Microstructure of Ag–Sn bonding for MEMS packaging. In: 2007 8th international conference on electronic packaging technology, 2007, pp 1–5
Li JF, Agyakwa PA, Johnson CM (2011) Interfacial reaction in Cu/Sn/Cu system during the transient liquid phase soldering process. Acta Mater 59:1198–1211
Bosco NS, Zok FW (2004) Critical interlayer thickness for transient liquid phase bonding in the Cu–Sn system. Acta Mater 52:2965–2972
Zhu ZX, Li CC, Liao LL, Liu CK, Kao CR (2016) Au–Sn bonding material for the assembly of power integrated circuit module. J Alloys Compd 671:340–345
Li JF, Agyakwa PA, Johnson CM (2014) Suitable thicknesses of base metal and interlayer, and evolution of phases for Ag/Sn/Ag transient liquid-phase joints used for power die attachment. J Electron Mater 43:983–995
Bosco NS, Zok FW (2005) Strength of joints produced by transient liquid phase bonding in the Cu–Sn system. Acta Mater 53:2019–2027
Chuang RW, Lee CC (2002) Silver-indium joints produced at low temperature for high temperature devices. IEEE Trans Compon Packag Technol 25:453–458
Wu YY, Lee CC (2013) High temperature Ag–In joints between Si chips and aluminum. In: 2013 IEEE 63rd electronic components and technology conference, 2013. pp 1617–1620
Froemel J, Baum M, Wiemer M, Gessner T (2015) Low-temperature wafer bonding using solid-liquid inter-diffusion mechanism. J Microelectromech Syst 24:1973–1980
Lin SK, Wang MJ, Yeh CY, Chang HM, Liu YC (2017) High-strength and thermal stable Cu-to-Cu joint fabricated with transient molten Ga and Ni under-bump-metallurgy. J Alloys Compd. 702:561–567
Wu YY, Nwoke D, Barlow FD, Lee CC (2014) Thermal cycling reliability study of Ag–In joints between Si chips and Cu substrates made by fluxless processes. IEEE Trans Compon Packaging Manuf Technol 4:1420–1426
Maruyama M, Matsubayashi R, Iwakuro H, Isoda S, Komatsu T (2008) Silver nanosintering: a lead-free alternative to soldering. Appl Phys A 93:467–470
Xu QY, Mei YH, Li X, Lu GQ (2016) Correlation between interfacial microstructure and bonding strength of sintered nanosilver on ENIG and electroplated Ni/Au direct-bond-copper (DBC) substrates. J Alloys Compd 675:317–324
Zhao SY, Li X, Mei YH, Lu GQ (2015) Study on high temperature bonding reliability of sintered nano-silver joint on bare copper plate. Microelectron Reliab 55:2524–2531
Chua S, Siow KS (2016) Microstructural studies and bonding strength of pressureless sintered nano-silver joints on silver, direct bond copper (DBC) and copper substrates aged at 300 °C. J Alloys Compd 687:486–498
Paknejad SA, Dumas G, West G, Lewis G, Mannan SH (2014) Microstructure evolution during 300 °C storage of sintered Ag nanoparticles on Ag and Au substrates. J Alloys Compd 617:994–1001
Subramanian P, Perepezko J (1993) The Ag–Cu (silver–copper) system. J Phase Equilib 14:62–75
Tu P, Chan YC, Lai J (1997) Effect of intermetallic compounds on the thermal fatigue of surface mount solder joints. IEEE Trans Compon Packag Manuf Technol B 20:87–93
Lee CC and Cheng L (2014) The quantum theory of solid-state atomic bonding. In 2014 IEEE 64th electronic components and technology conference (ECTC). IEEE, pp 1335–1341
Tofteberg HR, Schjølberg-Henriksen K, Fasting EJ, Moen AS, Taklo MM, Poppe EU et al (2014) Wafer-level Au–Au bonding in the 350–450° C temperature range. J Micromech Microeng 24:084002
Chen G, Feng Z, Chen J, Liu L, Li H, Liu Q et al (2017) Analytical approach for describing the collapse of surface asperities under compressive stress during rapid solid state bonding. Scripta Mater 128:41–44
Humphreys F (1997) A unified theory of recovery, recrystallization and grain growth, based on the stability and growth of cellular microstructures—I. The basic model. Acta Mater 45:4231–4240
Callister WD, Rethwisch DG (2012) Fundamentals of materials science and engineering: an integrated approach. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 279–283
Dieter GE, Bacon DJ (1986) Mechanical metallurgy. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp 231–233
Irvine Materials Research Institute. http://www.imri.uci.edu/. Accessed 2017
Lee CC, Wang DT, Choi WS (2006) Design and construction of a compact vacuum furnace for scientific research. Rev Sci Instrum 77:125104
JESD22-A103E, High temperature storage life, JEDEC, 2015
Dillamore IL, Roberts WT (1964) Rolling textures in f.c.c. and b.c.c. metals. Acta Metall 12:281–293
MIL-STD-883H Method 2019.8, Die shear strength, Department of Defense, 2010
Bukaluk A (1990) AES depth profile studies of interdiffusion in the Ag-Cu bilayer and multilayer thin films. Phys Status Solidi A 118:99–107
Hartung F, Schmitz G (2001) Interdiffusion and reaction of metals: the influence and relaxation of mismatch-induced stress. Phys Rev B 64:245418
Acknowledgement
XRD, in-plane pole figure measurement, and SEM/FIB and TEM/EDX work were performed at UC Irvine Materials research Institute (IMRI).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wu, J., Lee, C.C. Low-pressure solid-state bonding technology using fine-grained silver foils for high-temperature electronics. J Mater Sci 53, 2618–2630 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1689-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1689-y