Effect of bath conditions and pulse parameters on tin surface finish for microelectronic packaging applications

  • Published : 2015.11.26

Abstract

The effects of various bath conditions such as surfactant concentration, bath pH, bath temperature, agitation of bath; as well as pulse parameters such as cathodic current density, pulse duty cycle and frequency, on the grain size, surface finish, and appearance of the tin plated coatings have been investigated. The plating bath under investigation is an aqueous acidic solution composed of a mixture of $SnSO_4$, $H_2SO_4$, and a surfactant. The bath conductivity and pH are measured by a glass pH electrode. The microstructure of the coatings produced is characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and surface profilometry. XRD analysis shows that the deposits consist of tetragonal ${\beta}$-Sn crystal structure irrespective of plating conditions. The mechanism involved in the morphology evolution in response to various parameters and conditions has also been discussed.

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