MEMS Die Warpage During Curing of Die Attach Material

Abstract

Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) packages are vulnerable to stresses due to its functional structure. During the assembly process of the package, stresses stemming out of CTE mismatches of the structural elements and curing of the die attach material can cause warpage of the MEMS die [1]. Even though die attach material takes relatively small volumetric portion of the package, it plays a critical role in warpage of the die due to its location and sensitivity of a MEMS sensor. Most of virgin die attach adhesives are in a state of viscous liquid and, as it is cured the material properties such as modulus and CTE change. Accordingly, residual strain is cumulated on MEMS die after curing process and signal trim process is required. Therefore, the material properties changes depending on the curing profile is valuable information for assembly process of the MEMS package. To monitor the material properties changes and shrinkage during curing process, strain and modulus of a die attach material are measured in each curing step. Also, to investigate the material property change depending on the curing profile, two different curing profiles are used. Experimental data show that die attach materials are gradually cured after each thermal cycling, which cause the increment of the modulus and glass transition temperature (Tg) with shrinkage at elevated temperature. Using the measurement data, FEA model is built to predict the warpage of the MEMS die. In the FEA model, residual strain on MEMS die is calculated by inputting material properties of die attach in each curing step. Also, die warpage of the package during the curing process is monitored using an optical profiler for the validation of the simulation results.