Mechanical characterization of solder interconnections on functionalized, copper-containing polymer thick-film pastes for hybrid integration

Abstract

In this work, on different substrate materials thermally cured polymer thick-film (PTF) pastes are connected to surface mount technology resistors using a SnBiAg solder alloy. The effect of substrate pre-treatment with atmospheric plasma and thermal cycling on the shear strength of these interconnections is investigated, and the shear forces obtained are graded using United States Defense Standard / Military Standard (MIL-STD) 883. In particular, the build-up of solder interconnections on conductive structures made of commercially available copper-containing PTF pastes and their mechanical characterization is novel. As well as the mechanical characterization of conductive structures, made of PTF pastes, on plasma-treated substrates and their grading using the MIL-STD 883. In addition, interconnections with silver-containing conductive structures are realized for comparison. Depending on the interconnection system, component mean shear forces of up to 31 N are achieved. While some systems meet the 1.25× criterion of MIL-STD 883, the majority of the systems investigated do not meet the 1.00× criterion. Hereby, the adhesion between the conductive structure and the substrate usually fails. Plasma pre-treatment shows an adhesion-increasing effect only for a proportion of substrate materials used, as does thermal aging. But thermal loads can also impair the adhesive strength.