Modification Of Film Properties Research Articles

Microstructural and optical properties of aluminum oxide thin films prepared by off-plane filtered cathodic vacuum arc system

Transparent, amorphous, surface smooth, and hard aluminum oxide thin films were deposited on Si (100) and quartz substrates by an off-plane filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) system. We systematically studied the optical properties, such as transmittance and optical constants, of the aluminum oxide thin films deposited under various oxygen partial pressures. Experimental results show that the optical properties for aluminum oxide thin films are strongly dependent on oxygen partial pressure; the higher oxygen partial pressure causes much more oxygen to incorporate into the film thus inducing more modification of film properties. At proper oxygen partial pressure, the stoichiometric alumina film is obtained, which is smooth and dense. Additionally, it also displays good optical properties with a refractive index of ∼1.7 at 550 nm. The properties exhibited by the alumina thin films manifest the potential applications for alumina thin films in optical coatings and for FCVA technology in deposition of metal oxide optical films.

Reduced thermal strain in flip chip assembly on organic substrate using low CTE anisotropic conductive film

Flip chip assembly directly on organic boards offers miniaturization of package size as well as reduction in interconnection distances, resulting in a high performance and cost-competitive packaging method. This paper describes the usefulness of low cost flip-chip assembly using electroless Ni/Au bump and anisotropic conductive films on organic boards such as FR-4. As bumps for flip chip, electroless Ni/Au plating was performed as a low cost bumping method. Effect of annealing on Ni bump characteristics informed that the formation of crystalline nickel with Ni/sub 3/P precipitation above 300/spl deg/C causes an increase of hardness and an increase of the intrinsic stress. As interconnection material, modified ACFs composed of nickel conductive fillers for conductive fillers, and nonconductive fillers for modification of film properties, such as coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), were formulated for improved electrical and mechanical properties of ACF interconnection. Three ACF materials with different CTE values were prepared and bonded between Si chips and FR-4 boards for the thermal strain measurement using moire interferometry. The thermal strain of the ACF interconnection layer, induced by temperature excursion of 80/spl deg/C, was decreased according to the decreasing CTEs of ACF materials. This result indicates that the thermal fatigue life of ACF flip chip assembly on organic boards, limited by the thermal expansion mismatch between the chip and the board, could be increased by low CTE ACF.

Properties and microstructure of tungsten films deposited by ion-assisted evaporation

The modification of film properties in evaporated tungsten was studied as a function of deposition environment. Using concurrent argon ion bombardment of the growing film, the stress varied in the same manner at all ion energies and substrate temperatures. Initial increases in tensile stress are followed by a monotonic trend toward compressive stress, for all sets of films. On the other hand, the qualitative changes in film resistivity with concurrent bombardment were dependent on the ion energy and substrate temperature, showing increases at high temperature and energy and decreases at low temperature and energy. Changes in the microstructure and impurity content in deposited films were found to be strongly linked to stress and resistivity changes. The trend toward compressive stress induced by high levels of ion bombardment is primarily reflected in an increase in (110) orientation. Increased resistivity is related to decreased grain size, increased (110) texture, and increased levels of film argon and oxygen content. By choice of deposition conditions, both the resistivity and stress can be minimized.