• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.85-91
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• 2002

Even though electroless Hi and Sn-Ag-Cu solder are widely used materials in electronic packaging applications, interfacial reactions of the ternary Ni-Cu~Sn system have not been known well because of their complexity. Because the growth of intermetallics at the interface affects reliability of solder joint, the intermetallics in Ni-Cu-Sn system should be identified, and their growth should be investigated. Therefore, in present study, interfacial reactions between electroless Ni UB7f and 95.5Sn-4.0Ag-0.5Cu alloy were investigated focusing on morphology of the IMCs, thermodynamics, and growth kinetics. The IMCs that appear during a reflow and an aging are different each other. In early stage of a reflow, ternary IMC whose composition is Ni$_{22}$Cu$_{29}$Sn$_{49}$ forms firstly. Due to the lack of Cu diffusion, Ni$_{34}$Cu$_{6}$Sn$_{60}$ phase begins growing in a further reflow. Finally, the Ni$_{22}$Cu$_{29}$Sn$_{49}$ IMC grows abnormally and spalls into the molten solder. The transition of the IMCs from Ni$_{22}$Cu$_{29}$Sn$_{49}$ to Ni$_{34}$Cu$_{6}$Sn$_{60}$ was observed at a specific temperature. From the measurement of activation energy of each IMC, growth kinetics was discussed. In contrast to the reflow, three kinds of IMCs (Ni$_{22}$Cu$_{29}$Sn$_{49}$, Ni$_{20}$Cu$_{28}$Au$_{5}$, and Ni$_{34}$Cu$_{6}$Sn$_{60}$) were observed in order during an aging. All of the IMCs were well attached on UBM. Au in the quaternary IMC, which originates from immersion Au plating, prevents abnormal growth and separation of the IMC. Growth of each IMC is very dependent to the aging temperature because of its high activation energy. Besides the IMCs at the interface, plate-like Ag3Sn IMC grows as solder bump size inside solder bump. The abnormally grown Ni$_{22}$Cu$_{29}$Sn$_{49}$ and Ag$_3$Sn IMCs can be origins of brittle failure.failure.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.51-56
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• 2014

The reliability of solder joint is significantly affected by the property of surface finish. This paper reports on a study of high speed shear energy and failure mode for Sn-4.0wt%Ag-0.5wt%Cu (SAC405) solder joints with the time of Pd activation. The nodule size of electroless Ni-P deposit increased with increasing the time of Pd activation. The roughness (Ra) of electroless Ni-P deposit decreased with increasing the time of Pd activation. Then, with $HNO_3$ vapor, the quasi-brittle and brittle mode of SAC405 solder joint decreased with increasing the time of Pd activation. This results indicate that the increase in the Pd activation time for Electroless Ni/ Electroless Pd/ Immersion Au (ENEPIG) surface finish play a critical role for improving the robustness of SAC405 solder joint.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.63-71
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• 2022

In this study, the interfacial reaction and drop impact reliability of Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) solder and electroless nickel autocatalytic gold (ENAG) were studied. In addition, the solder joint properties with the ENAG surface finish was compared with electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) and electroless nickel electroless palladium immersion gold (ENEPIG). The IMC thickness of SAC/ENAG and SAC/ENEPIG were 1.15 and 1.12 ㎛, respectively, which were similar each other. The IMC thickness of the SAC/ENIG was 2.99 ㎛, which was about two times higher than that of SAC/ENAG. Moreover, it was found that the IMC thickness of the solder joint was affected by the metal turnover (MTO) condition of the electroless Ni(P) plating solution, and it was found that the IMC thickness increased when the MTO increased from 0 to 3. The shear strength of SAC/ENEPIG was the highest, followed by SAC/ENAG and SAC/ENIG. It was found that when the MTO increased, the shear strength was lowered. In terms of brittle fracture, SAC/ENEPIG was the lowest among the three joints, followed by SAC/ENAG and SAC/ENIG. Likewise, it was found that as MTO increased, brittle fracture increased. In the drop impact test, it was confirmed that the 0 MTO condition had a higher average number of failures than the 3 MTO condition, and the average number of failures was also higher in the order of SAC/ENEIG, SAC/ENAG, and SAC/ENIG. As a result of observing the fracture surface after the drop impact, it was found that the fracture was between the IMC and the Ni(P) layer.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.43-50
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• 2014

By the trends of electronic package to be smaller, thinner and more integrative, the reliability of interconnection between Si chip and printed circuit board is required. This paper reports on a study of high speed shear energy of Sn-4.0wt%Ag-0.5wt%Cu (SAC405) solder joints with different the thicknesses of electroless Ni-P deposit. A high speed shear testing of solder joints was conducted to find a relationship between the thickness of Ni-P deposit and the brittle fracture in electroless Ni-P deposit/SAC405 solder. A focused ion beam (FIB) was used to polish the cross sections to reveal details of the microstructure of the fractured pad surface with and without $HNO_3$ vapor treatment. The high speed shear energy of SAC405 solder joint with $1{\mu}m$ Ni-P deposit was found to be lower without $HNO_3$ vapor, compared to those of over $3{\mu}m$ Ni-P deposit. This could be due to the edge of solder resist in $1{\mu}m$ Ni-P deposit, which provides a fracture location for the weakened shear energy of solder joints and brittle fracture in high speed shear test. With $HNO_3$ vapor, the brittle fracture mode in high speed shear test decreased with increasing the thickness of Ni-P deposit. Then the roughness (Ra) of Ni-P deposits decreased with increasing its thickness. Thus, this gives the evidence that the decrease in roughness of Ni-P deposit for Eelectroless Ni/ Electroless Pd/ Immersion Au (ENEPIG) surface play a critical role for improving the robustness of SAC405 solder joint.