High Temperature Die Attach by Low Temperature Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion

Abstract

There is a need for electromechanical devices capable of operating in high temperature environments (>200°C) for a wide variety of applications. Today’s wide-bandgap semiconductor based power electronics have demonstrated a potential of operating above 400°C, however they are still limited by packaging. Our group has been conducting research in novel interconnect technologies to develop reliable electronic packaging for high temperature environments. Among the most promising alternative is the Au-Sn eutectic solder (80 wt.% Au - 20 wt.% Sn), which have been widely used due to its excellent mechanical and thermal properties. However, the operating temperature of this metallurgical system is still limited to ∼250°C owing to its melting temperature of 280°C. Therefore, a higher temperature resistant system is much needed, but without affecting the current processing temperature of ∼325°C typically exhibited in most high temperature Pb-Free solders. This paper presents the development and characterization of a fluxless die attach soldering process based on gold enriched solid liquid inter-diffusion (SLID). A low melting point eutectic Au-Sn was deposited in the faces of two substrates, followed by the deposition of a subsequent layer of high melting point material, gold in this instance, in one of the substrates. Deposition of all materials was performed using Jet Vapor Deposition (JVD) equipment where thicknesses were controlled to achieve specific compositions in the mixture. Sandwiched coupons where isothermally processed in a vacuum reflow furnace. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to reveal the microstructural evolution of the samples in order to study the interfacial reactions of this fluxless bonding process. EDS analysis was used to identify the intermetallic formation and to characterize the joint in an attempt to study the kinetics of this diffusion couple. Post-processed samples confirmed the inter-diffusion mechanism evidenced by the formation of sound joints between the two substrates. As expected, it was observed that the Au was dissolved into the eutectic Au-Sn as the reflow time and temperature were increased.