Electroless deposition of nickel microbumps for fine-pith flip-chip bonding

Abstract

Abstract The reliability of micro-light-emitting diode (Micro-LED) is closely associated with the uniformity of microbumps arrays. With continual decreases in pixel pitch in recent years, it is a challenge to guarantee the uniformity of bump arrays. To satisfy current requirements for ultra-high-density interconnections, this study proposes an electroless plating method for fabricating highly uniform nickel microbumps. This technique differs from electroplating, in which the morphology and consistency of microbumps can be easily controlled. Furthermore, it is a high-selectivity and cost-effective method of microbumps fabrication that eliminates solder wastage and avoids metal lift-off in traditional evaporation. To minimize the non-uniformity of the bumps, we aim to optimize the oxygen plasma treatment parameters and deposition intervals to eliminate the issues of skip plating, hydrogen bubble entrapment, and nodules. Under the combined effect of plasma treatment and intermittent deposition method, microbump arrays with less than 5% uniformity were successfully prepared, achieving the demands of high-density bonding. In addition, the preparation process is highly reproducible, extending the application range of this technique.