Fine Pitch Flip Chip Interconnection Research Articles

Development and Characterizations of Fine Pitch Flip-Chip Interconnection Using Silver Sintering

Flip-chip interconnects made of silver are promising candidates to overcome the intrinsic limits of solderbased interconnects and match the demand for increased current densities of high-performance microprocessors. Dipbased interconnects have been demonstrated to be a promising approach to form electrical interconnects by sintering paste between copper pillars and pads. However, the quality of the process is limited by residual porosity and poor performances of the sintered joint formed between the pillar and the pad during sintering if a pressure > 50 MPa is not applied in order to decrease the final porosity. In this study, development has been focused on varying key dipping process parameters allowing a pressureless sintering process. Dip-transfer process was optimized on test vehicle and has shown electrical continuity over 700 interconnections with diameter down to 50 μm. We demonstrate high reliability of the process with microstructural observations, tomography X and thermal cycle up to 200 cycles without breakdown.

Effect of preformed IMC Layer on Electromigration of Solder Capped Cu Pillar Bump Interconnection on an organic substrate

The electromigration behavior of 80 μm pitch solder capped Cu pillar bump interconnection on an organic carrier is studied and discussed. Recently the solder capped Cu pillar bump technology has been widely used in mobile applications as a peripheral ultra fine pitch flip chip interconnection technique. The solder capped Cu pillar bumps are formed on Al pads which are commonly used in wirebonding technique. It allows us an easy control of the space between the die and the substrate simply by varying the Cu pillar height. Since the control of the collapse of the solder bumps is not necessary, the technology is called the “C2 (Chip Connection)”. Solder capped Cu pillar bumps are connected to OSP surface treated Cu substrate pads on an organic substrate by reflow with a no-clean process, hence the C2 is a low cost ultra fine pitch flip chip interconnection technology. It is an ideal technology for the systems requiring fine pitch structures. In 2011, the EM tests were performed on 80 μm pitch solder capped Cu pillar bump interconnections and the effects of Ni barrier layers on the Cu pillars and the preformed intermetallic compound (IMC) layers on the EM tests were studied. The EM test conditions of the test vehicles were 7–10 kA/cm2 at 125–170°C. The Cu pillar height was 45 μm and the solder height was 25 μm. The solder composition was Sn-2.5Ag. Aged condition for pre-formed IMCs was 2,000 hours at 150°C. It was shown that the formation of the pre-formed IMC layers and the insertion of Ni barrier layers are effective in reducing the Cu atoms dissolution. In this report, it is studied that which of the IMC layers, Cu3Sn or Cu6Sn5, is more effective in preventing the Cu atom dissolution. The cross-sectional analyses of the joints after the 2000 hours of the test with 7kA/cm2 at 170°C were performed for this purpose. The relationship between the thickness of Cu3Sn IMC layer and the Cu migration is also studied by performing the current stress tests on the joints with controlled Cu3Sn IMC thicknesses. The samples were thermally aged prior to the tests at a higher temperature (200°C) and in a shorter time (10–50 hours) than the previous experiments. The cross-sectional analyses of the Sn-2.5Ag joints without pre-aging consisting mostly of Cu6Sn5, showed a significant Cu dissolution while the Cu dissolution was not detected for the pre-aged joints with thick Cu3Sn layers. A large number of Kirkendall voids were also observed in the joints without pre-aging. The current stress tests on the controlled Cu3Sn joints showed that Cu3Sn layer thickness of more than 1.5 μm is effective in reducing Cu dissolution in the joints.

Microstructure Observation of Electromigration Behavior in Peripheral C2 Flip Chip Interconnection with Solder Capped Cu Pillar Bump

The electromigration behavior of 80μm bump pitch C2 (Chip Connection) interconnection is studied and discussed. C2 is a peripheral ultra fine pitch flip chip interconnection technique with solder capped Cu pillar bumps formed on Al pads that are commonly used in wirebonding technique. It allows us an easy control of the space between dies and substrates simply by varying the Cu pillar height. Since the control of the collapse of the solder bumps is not necessary, the technology is called the “C2 (Chip Connection)”. C2 bumps are connected to OSP surface treated Cu substrate pads on an organic substrate by reflow with no-clean process, hence the C2 is a low cost ultra fine pitch flip chip interconnection technology. The reliability tests on the C2 interconnection including thermal cycle tests and thermal humidity bias tests have been performed previously. However the reliability against electromigration for such small flip chip interconnections is yet more to investigate. The electromigration tests were performed on 80μm bump pitch C2 flip chip interconnections. The interconnections with two different solder materials were tested: Sn-2.5Ag and Sn100%. The effect of Ni layers electroplated onto the Cu pillar bumps on electromigration phenomena is also studied. From the cross-sectional analyses of the C2 joints after the tests, it was found that the presence of intermetallic compound (IMC) layers reduces the atomic migration of Cu atoms into Sn solder. The analyses also showed that the Ni layers are effective in reducing the migration of Cu atoms into solder. In the C2 joints, the under bump metals (UBMs) are formed by sputtered Ti/Cu layers. The electro-plated Cu pillar height is 45μm and the solder height is 25μm for 80μm bump pitch. The die size is 7.3-mm-square and the organic substrate is 20-mm-square with a 4 layer-laminated prepreg with thickness of 310μm. The electromigration test conditions ranged from 7 to 10 kA/cm2 with temperature ranging from 125 to 170°C. Intermetallic compounds (IMCs) were formed prior to the test by aging process of 2,000hours at 150°C. We have studied the effect of IMC layers on electromigration induced phenomena in C2 flip chip interconnections on organic substrates. The study showed that the IMC layers in the C2 joints formed by aging process can act as barrier layers to prevent Cu atoms from diffusing into Sn solder. Our results showed potential for achieving electromigration resistant joints by IMC layer formation. The FEM simulation results show that the current densities in the Cu pillar and the solder decrease with increasing Cu pillar height. However an increase in Cu pillar height also leads to an increase in low-k stress. It is important to design the Cu pillar structure considering both the electromigration performance and the low-k stress reduction.

Chip On Board対応ファインピッチフリップチップ実装技術

Chip On Board対応ファインピッチフリップチップ実装技術

High-density 3-D packaging technology based on the sidewall interconnection method and its application for CCD micro-camera visual inspection system

High-density three-dimensional (3-D) packaging technology for a charge coupled device (CCD) micro-camera visual inspection system module has been developed by applying high-density interconnection stacked unit modules. The stacked unit modules have fine-pitch flip-chip interconnections within Cu-column-based solder bumps and high-aspect-ratio Cu sidewall footprints for vertical interconnections. Cu-column-based solder bump design and underfill encapsulation resin characteristics were optimized to reduce the strain in the bump so as to achieve fine-pitch flip-chip interconnection with high-reliability. High-aspect-ratio Cu sidewall footprints were realized by the Cu-filled stacked vias at the edge of the substrate. High-precision distribution of sidewall footprints was achieved by laminating the multiple stacked unit substrates simultaneously. The fabricated high-density 3-D packaging module has operated satisfactorily as the CCD imaging data transmission circuit. The technology was confirmed to be effective for incorporating many large scale integrated (LSI) devices of different sizes at far higher packaging density than it is possible to attain using conventional technology. This paper describes the high-density 3-D packaging technology which enables all of the CCD imaging data transmission circuit devices to be packaged into the restricted space of the CCD micro-camera visual inspection system interior.