• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.661-662
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• 2010

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.11-16
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• 2013

Through-silicon-via (TSV) is a major technology in microelectronics for three dimensional high density packaging. The 3-dimensional TSV technology is applied to CMOS sensors, MEMS, HB-LED modules, stacked memories, power and analog, SIP and so on which can be employed to car electronics. The copper electroplating is widely used in the TSV filling process. In this paper, the various Cu filling methods using the control of the plating process were described in detail including recent studies. Via filling behavior by each method was also introduced.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.91-96
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• 2014

Through silicon via (TSV) technology is to form a via hole in a silicon chip, and to stack the chips vertically for three-dimensional (3D) electronics packaging technology. This can reduce current path, power consumption and response time. In this study, Cu-filling substrate size was changed from Si-chip to a 4" wafer to investigate the behavior of Cu filling in wafer level. The electrolyte for Cu filling consisted of $CuSO_4$ $5H_2O$, $H_2SO_4$ and small amount of additives. The anode was Pt, and cathode was changed from $0.5{\times}0.5cm^2$ to 4" wafer. As experimental results, in the case of $5{\times}5cm^2$ Si chip, suitable distance of electrodes was 4cm having 100% filling ratio. The distance of 0~0.5 cm from current supplying location showed 100% filling ratio, and distance of 4.5~5 cm showed 95%. It was confirmed good TSV filling was achieved by plating for 2.5 hrs.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.68-73
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• 2014

Among through silicon via (TSV) technologies, for replacing Cu filling method, the method of molten solder filling has been proposed to reduce filling cost and filling time. However, because Sn alloy which has a high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) than Cu, CTE mismatch between Si and molten solder induced higher thermal stress than Cu filling method. This thermal stress can deteriorate reliability of TSV by forming defects like void, crack and so on. Therefore, we fabricated SiC composite filling material which had a low CTE for reducing thermal stress in TSV. To add SiC nano particles to molten solder, ball-typed SiC clusters, which were formed with Sn powders and SiC nano particles by ball mill process, put into molten Sn and then, nano particle-dispersed SiC composite filling material was produced. In the case of 1 wt.% of SiC particle, the CTE showed a lowest value which was a $14.8ppm/^{\circ}C$ and this value was lower than CTE of Cu. Up to 1 wt.% of SiC particle, Young's modulus increased as wt.% of SiC particle increased. And also, we observed cross-sectioned TSV which was filled with 1 wt.% of SiC particle and we confirmed a possibility of SiC composite material as a TSV filling material.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.130-135
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• 2013

This study proposed a noble process to fabricate TSV (Through Silicon Via) structure which has lower cost, shorter production time, and more simple fabrication process than plating method. In order to produce the via holes, the Si wafer was etched by a DRIE (Deep Reactive Ion Etching) process. The via hole was $100{\mu}m$ in diameter and $400{\mu}m$ in depth. A dielectric layer of $SiO_2$ was formed by thermal oxidation on the front side wafer and via hole side wall. An adhesion layer of Ti and a seed layer of Au were deposited. Soldering process was applied to fill the via holes with solder paste and metal powder. When the solder paste was used as via hole metal line, sintering state and electrical properties were excellent. However, electrical connection was poor due to occurrence of many voids. In the case of metal powder, voids were reduced but sintering state and electrical properties were bad. We tried the via hole filling process by using mixing solder paste and metal powder. As a consequence, it was confirmed that mixing rate of solder paste (4) : metal powder (3) was excellent electrical characteristics.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.18-22
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• 2009

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.140-140
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• 2018

The 3D interconnect technologies have been appeared, as the density of Integrated Circuit (IC) devices increases. Through Silicon Via (TSV) process is an important technology in the 3D interconnect technologies. And the process is used to form a vertically electrical connection through silicon dies. This TSV process has some advantages that short length of interconnection, high interconnection density, low electrical resistance, and low power consumption. Because of these advantages, TSVs could improve the device performance higher. The fabrication process of TSV has several steps such as TSV etching, insulator deposition, seed layer deposition, metallization, planarization, and assembly. Among them, TSV metallization (i.e. TSV filling) was core process in the fabrication process of TSV because TSV metallization determines the performance and reliability of the TSV interconnect. TSVs were commonly filled with metals by using the simple electrochemical deposition method. However, since the aspect ratio of TSVs was become a higher, it was easy to occur voids and copper filling of TSVs became more difficult. Using some additives like an accelerator, suppressor and leveler for the void-free filling of TSVs, deposition rate of bottom could be fast whereas deposition of side walls could be inhibited. The suppressor was adsorbed surface of via easily because of its higher molecular weight than the accelerator. However, for high aspect ratio TSV fillers, the growth of the top of via can be accelerated because the suppressor is replaced by an accelerator. The substitution of the accelerator and the suppressor caused the side wall growth and defect generation. The suppressor was used as Single additive electrodeposition of TSV to overcome the constraints. At the electrochemical deposition of high aspect ratio of TSVs, the suppressor as single additive could effectively suppress the growth of the top surface and the void-free bottom-up filling became possible. Generally, copper was used to fill TSVs since its low resistivity could reduce the RC delay of the interconnection. However, because of the large Coefficients of Thermal Expansion (CTE) mismatch between silicon and copper, stress was induced to the silicon around the TSVs at the annealing process. The Keep Out Zone (KOZ), the stressed area in the silicon, could affect carrier mobility and could cause degradation of the device performance. Cobalt can be used as an alternative material because the CTE of cobalt was lower than that of copper. Therefore, using cobalt could reduce KOZ and improve device performance. In this study, high-aspect ratio TSVs were filled with cobalt using the electrochemical deposition. And the filling performance was enhanced by using the suppressor as single additive. Electrochemical analysis explains the effect of suppressor in the cobalt filling bath and the effect of filling behavior at condition such as current type was investigated.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.55-59
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• 2012

Defects such as voids or seams are frequently found in TSV via filling process. To achieve defect-free copper via filling, organic additives such as suppressor, accelerator and leveler were necessary in a copper plating bath. However, by-products stemming from the breakdown of these organic additives reduce the lifetime of the devices and plating solutions. In this research, the effects of levelers on copper electrodeposition were investigated without suppressor and accelerator to lower the concentration of additives. Threelevelers(janus green B, methylene violet, diazine black) were investigated to study the effects of levelers on copper deposition. Electrochemical behaviors of these levelers were different in terms of deposition rate. Filling performances were analyzed by cross sectional images and its characteristics were different with variations of levelers.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.374-378
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• 2012

In an effort to overcome the problems which arise when fabricating high-aspect-ratio TSV(through silicon via), we performed experiments involving the void-free Cu filling of a TSV(10~20 ${\mu}m$ in diameter with an aspect ratio of 5~7) by controlling the plating DC current density and the additive SPS concentration. Initially, the copper deposit growth mode in and around the trench and the TSV was estimated by the change in the plating DC current density. According to the variation of the plating current density, the deposition rate during Cu electroplating differed at the top and the bottom of the trench. Specifically, at a current density 2.5 mA/$cm^2$, the deposition rate in the corner of the trench was lower than that at the top and on the bottom sides. From this result, we confirmed that a plating current density 2.5 mA/$cm^2$ is very useful for void-free Cu filling of a TSV. In order to reduce the plating time, we attempted TSV Cu filling by controlling the accelerator SPS concentration at a plating current density of 2.5 mA/$cm^2$. A TSV with a diameter 10 ${\mu}m$ and an aspect ratio of 7 was filled completely with Cu plating material in 90 min at a current density 2.5 mA/$cm^2$ with an addition of SPS at 50 mg/L. Finally, we found that TSV can be filled rapidly with plated Cu without voids by controlling the SPS concentration at the optimized plating current density.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.7
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• pp.667-673
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• 2010

Copper filling into TSV (through-silicon-via) and reduction of the filling time for the three dimensional chip stacking were investigated in this study. A Si wafer with straight vias - $30\;{\mu}m$ in diameter and $60\;{\mu}m$ in depth with $200\;{\mu}m$ pitch - where the vias were drilled by DRIE (Deep Reactive Ion Etching) process, was prepared as a substrate. $SiO_2$, Ti and Au layers were coated as functional layers on the via wall. In order to reduce the time required complete the Cu filling into the TSV, the PPR (periodic pulse reverse) wave current was applied to the cathode of a Si chip during electroplating, and the PR (pulse-reverse) wave current was also applied for a comparison. The experimental results showed 100% filling rate into the TSV in one hour was achieved by the PPR electroplating process. At the interface between the Cu filling and Ti/ Au functional layers, no defect, such as a void, was found. Meanwhile, the electroplating by the PR current showed maximum 43% filling ratio into the TSV in an hour. The applied PPR wave form was confirmed to be effective to fill the TSV in a short time.