Advances in Bonding Technology for Electronic Packaging

Recent progress in bonding materials is briefly reviewed with highlights of some of the advantages and disadvantages of the various attachment processes. The principle and experimental results of bonding with multilayer structures of Au-Sn and Au-In are presented. Using solid state as well as liquid phase diffusion of the multilayers, bonding temperatures less than the final melting point of the alloy can be used. This technique therefore allows reversal of the conventional soldering step hierarchy allowing a higher temperature process to follow the multilayer bonding step. Proper deposition of the multilayers inhibits oxidation of tin or indium. Die attachment experiments confirmed that high quality bonding can be obtained as seen in the void-free bonding layer images done by scanning acoustic microscopy. Cross-section examinations with SEM and EDX show near-eutectic alloy formation of good uniformity. Thermal shock tests confirmed the high strength of these solder alloys.