• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.186-193
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• 2014

A thin Cu seed layer for electroplating has been employed for decades in the miniaturization and integration of printed circuit board (PCB), however many problems are still caused by the thin Cu seed layer, e.g., open circuit faults in PCB, dimple defects, low conductivity, and etc. Here, we studied the effect of heat treatment of the thin Cu seed layer on the deposition rate of electroplated Cu. We investigated the heat-treatment effect on the crystallite size, morphology, electrical properties, and electrodeposition thickness by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), four point probe (FPP), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements, respectively. The results showed that post heat treatment of the thin Cu seed layer could improve surface roughness as well as electrical conductivity. Moreover, the deposition rate of electroplated Cu was improved about 148% by heat treatment of the Cu seed layer, indicating that the enhanced electrical conductivity and surface roughness accelerated the formation of Cu nuclei during electroplating. We also confirmed that the electrodeposition rate in the via filling process was also accelerated by heat-treating the Cu seed layer.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2022

In this study, the effect of alkylamine on copper electroplating was analyzed using cyclic voltammetry. When water-soluble alkylamines were added to the plating solution, the reduction reaction of Cu²⁺ was inhibited. The inhibition effect of 1,12-diaminododecane has been investigated at various concentrations and conditions of the plating solution. 1,12-diaminododecane was protonated in the acidic plating solution, and therefore, it did not act as a complexing agent for Cu²⁺. Accordingly, it was confirmed that the inhibiton effect of 1,12-diaminododecane was attributed to adsorption on the Cu surface. The adsorption of 1,12-diaminododecane exhibits two characteristics: (i) protonation and subsequent electrostatic attraction with anions pre-adsorbed on Cu surface, and (ii) direct adsorption on Cu surface via amine functional group. The adsorbed 1,12-diaminododecane caused three-dimensional growth and grain refining, as well as the inhibition effect, during Cu electroplating.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.87-92
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• 2008

The interface microstructure of Sn-3.5Ag/Cu joint was modified by electroplating varying amount of Zn on Cu UBM. As the amount of Zn dissolved in Sn-3.5Ag solder increased with the electroplating Zn thickness, Cu-Sn IMCs such as $Cu_6Sn_5$ and $Cu_3Sn$ were replaced by Zn-containing IMCs such as $Cu_5Zn_8$ and $Ag_5Zn_8$, which increased the drop reliability of solder joints significantly. When the amount of Zn dissolved in solder was about 3.8wt%, drop resistance was best due to the effective suppression of Cu-Sn IMC and voids at the interface.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.386-392
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• 2003

The electroplating process for a solder bump which can be applied for a flip chip was studied. Si-wafer was used for an experimental substrate, and the substrate were coated with UBM (Under Bump Metallization) of Al(400 nm)/Cu(300 nm)Ni(400 nm)/Au(20 nm) subsequently. The compositions of the bump were Sn-Cu and eutectic Sn-Pb, and characteristics of two bumps were compared. Experimental results showed that the electroplated thickness of the solders were increased with time, and the increasing rates were TEX>$0.45 <\mu\textrm{m}$/min for the Sn-Cu and $ 0.35\mu\textrm{m}$/min for the Sn-Pb. In the case of Sn-Cu, electroplating rate increased from 0.25 to $2.7\mu\textrm{m}$/min with increasing current density from 1 to 8.5 $A/dm^2$. In the case of Sn-Pb the rate increased until the current density became $4 A/dm^2$, and after that current density the rate maintains constant value of $0.62\mu\textrm{m}$/min. The electro plated bumps were air reflowed to form spherical bumps, and their bonded shear strengths were evaluated. The shear strength reached at the reflow time of 10 sec, and the strength was of 113 gf for Sn-Cu and 120 gf for Sn-Pb.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.228-232
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• 2019

Copper electroplating and electrode patterning using a screen printer are applied instead of lithography for heterostructure with intrinsic thin layer(HIT) silicon solar cells. Samples are patterned on an indium tin oxide(ITO) layer using polymer resist printing. After polymer resist patterning, a Ni seed layer is deposited by sputtering. A Cu electrode is electroplated in a Cu bath consisting of $Cu_2SO_4$ and $H_2SO_4$ at a current density of $10mA/cm^2$. Copper electroplating electrodes using a screen printer are successfully implemented to a line width of about $80{\mu}m$. The contact resistance of the copper electrode is $0.89m{\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$, measured using the transmission line method(TLM), and the sheet resistance of the copper electrode and ITO are $1{\Omega}/{\square}$ and $40{\Omega}/{\square}$, respectively. In this paper, a screen printer is used to form a solar cell electrode pattern, and a copper electrode is formed by electroplating instead of using a silver electrode to fabricate an efficient solar cell electrode at low cost.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2010

The effect of organic additives, 1-(3-sulfoproyl)-2-vinylpyridineium hydroxide (SVH) and thiourea (TU), on the precision copper electrodeposition was investigated with optical, electrochemical and x-ray diffraction techniques. It was found that SVH played a r ole as a n accelerator and TU as an i nhibitor during the electroreduction of cupric ions in acidic Cu electroplating solution. Through electrochemical measurements, TU showed more strong interaction with cupric ions than SVH and dominated overall Cu electroplating process when both additives were present in the solution. In the case of three dimensional Cu electrodeposition on the 20 ${\mu}m$-patterned Ni substrates, SVH controlled the upright growth of Cu electrodeposits and so determined its flatness, while TU prohibited the lateral spreading of Cu in the course of pulse-reverse pulse current adaptation. With microscopic observation, we obtained the optimum organic additives composition, that is, 100 ppm SVH and 200 ppm TU during the current pulsation.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.84-87
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• 2003

Since Pb-free solder alloys have been used extensively in microelectronic packaging industry, the interaction between UBM (Under Bump Metallurgy) and solder is a critical issue because IMC (Intermetallic Compound) at the interface is critical for the adhesion of mechanical and the electrical contact for flip chip bonding. IMC growth must be fast during the reflow process to form stable IMC. Too fast IMC growth, however, is undesirable because it causes the dewetting of UBM and the unstable mechanical stability of thick IMC. UP to now. Ni and Cu are the most popular UBMs because electroplating is lower cost process than thin film deposition in vacuum for Al/Ni(V)/Cu or phased Cr-Cu. The consumption rate and the growth rate of IMC on Ni are lower than those of Cu. In contrast, the wetting of solder bumps on Cu is better than Ni. In addition, the residual stress of Cu is lower than that of Ni. Therefore, the alloy of Cu and Ni could be used as optimum UBM with both advantages of Ni and Cu. In this paper, the interfacial reactions of Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu solder on Ni-xCu alloy UBMs were investigated. The UBMs of Ni-Cu alloy were made on Si wafer. Thin Cr film and Cu film were used as adhesion layer and electroplating seed layer, respectively. And then, the solderable layer, Ni-Cu alloy, was deposited on the seed layer by electroplating. The UBM consumption rate and intermetallic growth on Ni-Cu alloy were studied as a function of time and Cu contents. And the IMCs between solder and UBM were analyzed with SEM, EDS, and TEM.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.71-74
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• 2009

Electroplated Cu is a cost efficient metallization method in microelectronic packaging applications. Typically in 3-D chip staking technology, utilizing through silicon via (TSV), electroplated Cu metallization is inevitable for the throughput as well as reducing the cost of ownership (COO).To achieve a comparable film quality to sputtering or CVD, a pre-cleaning process as well as plating process is crucial. In this research, atmospheric plasma is employed to reduce the usage of chemicals, such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and sodium hydroxide (NaHO), by substituting the chemical assisted organic cleaning process with plasma surface treatment for Cu electroplating. By employing atmospheric plasma treatment, marginally acceptable electroplating and cleaning results are achieved without the use of hazardous chemicals. The experimental results show that the substitution of the chemical process with plasma treatment is plausible from an environmentally friendly aspect. In addition, plasma treatment on immersion Sn/Cu was also performed to find out the solderability of plasma treated Sn/Cu for practical industrial applications.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.37-41
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• 2014

One of the important developments in next generation electronic devices is the technology for power delivery and heat dissipation. In this study, the Cu-to-Cu flip chip bonding process was evaluated using the square ABL power bumps and circular I/O bumps. The difference in bump height after Cu electroplating followed by CMP process was about $0.3{\sim}0.5{\mu}m$ and the bump height after Cu electroplating only was about $1.1{\sim}1.4{\mu}m$. Also, the height of ABL bumps was higher than I/O bumps. The degree of Cu bump planarization and Cu bump height uniformity within a die affected significantly on the misalignment and bonding quality of Cu-to-Cu flip chip bonding process. To utilize Cu-to-Cu flip chip bonding with ABL bumps, both bump planarization and within-die bump height control are required.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.84-84
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• 2012

소자가 고집적화 됨에 따라, 비저항이 낮고 electro migration (EM), Stress Migration (SM) 특성이 우수한 구리(Cu)를 배선재료로서 사용하고 있다. 그러나, 구리는 Si과 $SiO_2$의 내부로 확산이 빠르게 일어나, Si 소자 내부에 deep donor level을 형성하고, 누설 전류를 증가시키는 등 소자의 성능을 저하시킬 수 있는 문제점을 가지고 있다. 그러나, electroplating 을 이용하여 증착한 Cu 박막은 일반적으로 확산 방지막으로 쓰이는 TiN, TaN, 등의 물질과의 접착 (adhesion) 특성이 나쁘다. 따라서, Cu CMP 에서 증착된 Cu 박막의 벗겨지거나(peeling), EM or SM 저항성 저하 등의 배선에서의 reliability 문제를 야기하게된다. 따라서 Cu 와 접착 특성이 좋은 새로운 확산방지막 또는 adhesion layer의 필요성이 대두되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 이러한 Cu 배선에서의 접착성 문제를 해결하고자 Metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)을 이용하여 제조한 코발트(Co) 박막을 $Cu/TaN_x$ 사이의 접착력 개선을 위한 adhesion layer로 적용하려는 시도를 하였다. Co는 비저항이 낮고, Cu 와 adhesion이 좋으며, Cu direct electroplating 이 가능하다는 장점을 가지고 있다. 하지만, 수소 분위기에서 $C_{12}H_{10}O_6(Co)_2$ (dicobalt hexacarbonyl tert-butylacetylene, CCTBA) 전구체에 의한 MOCVD Co 박막의 경우 탄소, 산소와 같은 불순물이 다량 함유되어 있어, 비저항, surface roughness 가 높아지게 된다. 따라서 구리 전착 초기에 구리의 핵 생성(nucleation)을 저해하고 핵 생성 후에도 응집(agglomeration)이 발생하여 연속적이고 얇은 구리막 형성을 방해한다. 이를 해결하기 위해, MOCVD Co 박막 증착 시 수소 반응 가스에 암모니아를 추가로 주입하여, 수소/암모니아의 분압을 1:1, 1:6, 1:10으로 변화시켜 $Co/TaN_x$ 박막의 특성을 비교 분석하였다. 각각의 수소/암모니아 분압에 따른 $Co/TaN_x$ 박막을 TEM (Transmission electron microscopy), XRD (X-ray diffraction), AES (Auger electron spectroscopy)를 통해 물성 및 조성을 분석하였고, AFM (Atomic force microscopy)를 이용하여, surface roughness를 측정하였다. 실험 결과, $Co/TaN_x$ 박막은 수소/암모니아 분압 1:6에서 90 ${\mu}{\Omega}-cm$의 낮은 비저항과 0.97 nm 의 낮은 surface roughness 를 가졌다. 뿐만 아니라, MOCVD 에 의해 증착된 Co 박막이4-6 % concentration 의 탄소 및 산소 함량을 가지는 것으로 나타났고, 24nm 크기의 trench 기판 위에 약 6nm의 $Co/TaN_x$ 박막이 매우 균일하게 형성된 것을 확인 할 수 있었다. 이러한 결과들은, 향후 $Co/TaN_x$ 박막이 Cu direct electroplating 공정이 가능한 diffusion barrier로서 성공적으로 사용될 수 있음을 보여준다.