• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.63-67
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• 2011

We investigated effects of bonding conditions on the peel strength of rigid printed circuit board (RPCB)/ flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) joints bonded using a thermo-compression bond method, The electrodes on the FPCB were coated with Sn by a dipping process. We confirmed that the bonding temperature and bonding time strongly affected the bonding configuration and strength of the joints. Also, the peel strength is affected by dipping conditions; the optimum dipping condition was found to be temperature of $270^{\circ}C$ and time of 1s. The bonding strength linearly increased with increasing bonding temperature and time until $280^{\circ}C$ and 10s. The fracture energy calculated from the F-x (Forcedisplacement) curve during a peel test was the highest at bonding temperature of $280^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.45-52
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• 2011

It is known that test methods to evaluate solder joint reliability are die shock test, die shear test, 3points bending test, and thermal shock test. The present study investigated the effects of failure mode on 3 types (as-reflowed, $85^{\circ}C$/85%RH treatment, and $150^{\circ}C$/10hr aging) of solder joints for flip-chip BGA package by using various test methods. The test methods and configurations are reported in detail, i.e. die shock, die shear, 3points bending, and thermal shock test. We focus on the failure mode of solder joints under various tests. The test results indicate that die shock and die shear test method can reveal brittle fracture in flip-chip ball grid array (FCBGA) packages with higher sensitivity.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2010

We reported the methodology for the shear test which is one of the evaluation procedure for mechanical reliability of flip-chip package. The shear speed and the tip height are found to be two significant experimental parameters in the shear test. We investigated how these two parameters have an influence on the results, the shear strength and failure mode. In order to prove these experimental inconsistency, simulation using finite element analysis was also conducted to calculate the shear strength and to figure out the distribution of plastic energy inside of the solder ball. The shear strength decreased while the tip height increased or the shear speed decreased. A variation in shear strength due to inconsistent shear conditions made confusion on analyzing experimental results. As a result, it was strongly needed to standardize the shear test method.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.13 no.1 s.38
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• pp.63-72
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• 2006

Mobile products, such as cellular phones, PDA and notebook, are subjected to many different mechanical loads, which include bending, twisting, impact shock and vibration. In this study, a cyclic bending test of the BGA package was performed to evaluate the fatigue life. Special bending tester, which was suitable for electronic package, was developed using an electromagnetic actuator. A nonlinear finite element model was used to simulate the mechanical bending deformation of solder joint in BGA packages. The fatigue life of lead-free (95.5Sn4.0Ag0.5Cu) solder joints was compared with that of lead-contained (63Sn37Pb). When the applied load to the specimen is small, the lead-free solder has longer fatigue life than lead-contained solder. The fatigue crack is initialized at the exterior solder joints and is propagated into the inner solder joints.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2023

Recently, the shift to next-generation wide-bandgap (WBG) power semiconductor for electric vehicle is accelerated due to the need to improve power conversion efficiency and to overcome the limitation of conventional Si power semiconductor. With the adoption of WBG semiconductor, it is also required that the packaging materials for power modules have high temperature durability. As an alternative to conventional high-temperature Pb-based solder, Ag sintering die attach, which is one of the power module packaging process, is receiving attention. In this study, we will introduce the recent research trends on the Ag sintering die attach process. The effects of sintering parameters on the bonding properties and methodology on the exact physical properties of Ag sintered layer by the realization 3D image are discussed. In addition, trends in thermal shock and power cycle reliability test results for power module are discussed.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.49-55
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• 2011

The failure of electronic instruments is mostly caused by heat and shock. This shock causes the crack initiation at the solder joint interface of PCB component which is closely related with the formation of intermetallic compound(IMC). The Ag content in Pb-free Sn-xAg-0.5Cu solder alloy used in this study was 1.0, 1.2 and 3.0 wt.%, respectively. After soldering with PCB component, isothermal aging was performed to 1000 hrs. The growth of IMC layer was observed during isothermal aging. The drop impact property of solder joint was evaluated by impact bending test method. The solder joint made with the solder containing lower Ag content showed better impact bending property compared with that with higher Ag content. On the contrary to this result, the solder joint made with solder containing higher Ag content showed better impact bending property after aging. It should be caused by the formation of fine $Ag_3Sn$, which relieved the impact. It showed consequently the different effect of fine $Ag_3Sn$ and coarse $Cu_6Sn_5$ particles formed in the IMC layer on the impact bending property.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.33-37
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• 2008

A noticeable amount of Kirkendall voids formed at the Sn-3.5Ag solder joint with electroplated Cu, and that became even more significant when an additive was added to Cu electroplating bath. With SPS, a large amount of voids formed at the $Cu/Cu_3Sn$ interface of the solder joint during thermal aging at $150^{\circ}C$. The in-situ AES analysis of fractured joints revealed S segregation on the void surface. Only Cu, Sn, and S peaks were detected at the fractured $Cu/Cu_3Sn$ interfaces, and the S peak decreased rapidly with AES depth profiling. The segregation of S at the $Cu/Cu_3Sn$ interface lowered interface energy and thereby reduced the free energy barrier for the Kirkendall void nucleation. The drop impact test revealed that the electrodeposited Cu film with SPS degraded drastically with aging time. Fracture occurred at the $Cu/Cu_3Sn$ interface where a lot of voids existed. Therefore, voids occupied at the $Cu/Cu_3Sn$ interface are shown to seriously degrade drop reliability of solder joints.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.1-10
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• 2023

Recently, as the demand for high-performance computers and mobile products increases, semiconductor packages are becoming high-integration and high-density. Therefore, in order to transmit a large amount of data at once, micro bumps such as flip-chip and Cu pillar that can reduce bump size and pitch and increase I/O density are used. However, when the size of the bumps is smaller than 70 ㎛, the brittleness increases and electrical properties decrease due to the rapid increase of the IMC volume fraction in the solder joint, which deteriorates the reliability of the solder joint. Therefore, in order to improve these issues, a layer that serves to prevent diffusion is inserted between the UBM (Under Bump Metallization) or pillar and the solder cap. In this review paper, various studies to improve bonding properties by suppressing excessive IMC growth of micro-bumps through additional layer insertion were compared and analyzed.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.103-111
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• 2017

In this study, the thermomechanical stress and fatigue analysis of a high voltage and high current (3,300 V/1200 A) insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module used for electric locomotive applications were performed under thermal cycling condition. Especially, the reliability of the copper wire and the ribbon wire were compared with that of the conventional aluminum wire. The copper wire showed three times higher stress than the aluminum wire. The ribbon type wire showed a higher stress than the circular type wire, and the copper ribbon wire showed the highest stress. The fatigue analysis results of the chip solder connecting the chip and the direct bond copper (DBC) indicated that the crack of the solder mainly occurred at the outer edge of the solder. In case of the circular wire, cracking of the solder occurred at 35,000 thermal cycles, and the crack area in the copper wire was larger than that of the aluminum wire. On the other hand, when the ribbon wire was used, the crack area was smaller than that of the circular wire. In case of the solder existing between DBC and base plate, the crack growth rate was similar regardless of the material and shape of the wire. However, cracking occurred earlier than chip solder, and more than half of the solder was failed at 40,000 cycles. Therefore, it is expected that the reliability of the solder between DBC and base plate would be worse than the chip solder.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.53-57
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• 2013

Although the lowering of Ag content in Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu is known to improve the mechanical shock reliability of the solder joint, it is also known to be detrimental to the solderbility. In this study, the quaternary alloying effect of In and the minor alloying effects of Mn and Pd on the solderability, thermal cycling and mechanical shock reliabilities of the low Ag content Sn-1.2Ag-0.7Cu solder were investigated using board-level BGA packages. The solderability of Sn-1.2Ag-0.7Cu-0.4In was proved to be comparable to that of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu but its thermal cycling reliability was inferior to that of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu. While the 0.03 wt% Pd addition to the Sn-1.2Ag-0.7Cu-0.4In decreased the solderability and reliabilities of solder joint, the 0.1 wt% Mn addition was proved to be beneficial especially for the mechanical shock reliability compared to those of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu and Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu compositions. It was considered to be due that the Mn addition decreased the Young's modulus of low Ag content Pb-free solders.