• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.21-30
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• 2018

Driven by the recent energy saving trend, conventional silicon based power conversion modules are being replaced by modules using silicon carbide. Previous papers have focused mainly on the electrical advantages of silicon carbide semiconductors that can be used to design switching devices with much lower losses than conventional silicon based devices. However, no systematic study of their thermomechanical reliability in power conversion modules using finite element method (FEM) simulation has been presented. In this paper, silicon and silicon carbide based power devices with three-phase switching were designed and compared from the viewpoint of thermomechanical reliability. The switching loss of power conversion module was measured by the switching loss evaluation system and measured switching loss data was used for the thermal FEM simulation. Temperature and stress/strain distributions were analyzed. Finally, a thermal fatigue simulation was conducted to analyze the creep phenomenon of the joining materials. It was shown that at the working frequency of 20 kHz, the maximum temperature and stress of the power conversion module with SiC chips were reduced by 56% and 47%, respectively, compared with Si chips. In addition, the creep equivalent strain of joining material in SiC chip was reduced by 53% after thermal cycle, compared with the joining material in Si chip.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.89-92
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• 2000

Non-aqueous tape casting of LTCC with PVB binder has been studied in a continuous tape casting machine. The aim of the study was to evaluate this type of system in the different Binder/Plasticizer and solid content compositions. Each four slurry compositions were used in the experiments with varied binder/plasticizer and solid content. All the slurries gave good quality tapes with smooth surfaces without blisters or pinholes. The highest mechanical properties was obtained for the B/P=3.0, powder content 70vol% composition from 52 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ green tapes, a tensile strength of 4.6 MPa and a linear extension of 29.5%

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.55-59
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• 2003

In this study, $Al_xTa_{1-x}$(x=0.0∼1.0) alloy thin films were grown by RF-Magnetron sputtering system, and the structural, mechanical and electrical properties of samples were examined by 4-point probe, XRD, AFM and micro-Vickers hardness profiler. The electrical resistivity was maximum and the crystal quality was optimum for the samples with Al content x=0.245 (Al 24.5 at.%). Regarding the surface hillock formation, the hillock density decreased with an increase of Al content for the low Al content range, and the hillock was eliminated for the sample with Al=24.5 at.%. The hillock density increased with the further increase of Al content. The high values of micro-Vickers hardness were obtained for the samples with x=0.2∼0.45. The results obtained demonstrate that the crystal quality, electrical resistivity, surface morphology and micro-hardness are closely inter-related, and that the optimum physical properties are obtained for the sample with x=0.245.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.61-67
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• 2003

The interfacial reaction between ultra-small 58Bi-42Sn solder and Au/Ni/Ti under bump metallurgy (UBM) for ultra-fine flip chip application was investigated. The ultra-small 58Bi-42Sn solder bump, about $46{\mu}m$ in diameter, was fabricated by using the lift-off method and reflowed using the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) system. The intermetallic compounds were characterized using a secondary electron microscopy (SEM), an energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and an x-ray diffractometer (XRD). The faceted and polygonal intermetallic compounds were found in the Bi-Sn solder bumps on $Au(0.1{\mu}m)/Ni/Ti$ UBM and they were indentified as $(Au_xBi_yNi_{1-x-y})Sn_2$ Phase. The intermetallic compounds grown from the $Au(0.1{\mu}m)/Ni/Ti$ UBMinterface were dispersed in the solder bump.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.11 no.4 s.33
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• pp.23-27
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• 2004

The $Al_xTa_{1-x} (x=0.0{\~}1.0)$ alloy thin films were deposited by RF-magnetron sputtering system, and the crystal quality, surface morphology, and electrical properties were examined using XRD, AFM, 4-point probe techniques in this study. The thin films were grown according to the alloy compositions first, and the effects of film thickness and mask patterns were investigated afterwards. Also, the heating characteristics were examined by heat controller. The obtained results showed that the high electrical resistivity was obtained for Al content $x=6.63at\%$, and the even higher resistivity was accomplished for the samples with smaller thickness and narrower width. The heating temperature demonstrated the identical trend to the electrical properties, and the highest heating temperature ($400^{\circ}C$) and output power ($12.6W/cm^2$) were obtained for the sample with Al content $x=6.63\%$, film thickness d=500 nm, film width w=1.5 mm.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.15-20
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• 2007

Low temperature processed ZnO-TFTs on glass below $270^{\circ}C$ for plastic substrate applications were fabricated and their electrical properties were investigated. Films in ZnO-TFTs with bottom gate configuration were made by RF magnetron sputtering system except for $SiO_2$ gate oxide deposited by ICP-CVD. ZnO channel films were grown on glass with various Ar and $O_2$ flow ratios. All of the fabricated ZnO-TFTs showed perfectly the enhancement mode operation, a high optical transmittance of above 80% in visible ranges of the spectrum. In the ZnO-TFTs with pure Ar process, the field effect mobility, threshold voltage, and on/off ratio were measured to be $1.2\;cm^2/Vs$, 8.5 V, and $5{\times}10^5$, respectively. These characteristic values are much higher than those of the ZnO-TFTs of which ZnO channel layers were processed with additional $O_2$ gas. In addition, ZnO-TFT with pure Af process showed smaller swing voltage of 1.86v/decade compared to those with $Ar+O_2$ process.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.49-53
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• 2011

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films is a metastable form of amorphous carbon containing a significant fraction of Sp3 bond. DLC films have been characterized by a range of attractive mechanical, chemical, tribological, as well as optical and electrical properties. In this study DLC films were prepared by the RF magnetron sputter system on $SiO_2$ substrates using graphite target. The effects of the post annealing temperature on the Property variation of the DLC films were examined. The DLC films were annealed at temperatures ranging from 300 to $500^{\circ}C$ using rapid thermal process equipment in vacuum. The variation of electrical property and surface morphology as a function of annealing treatment was investigated by using a Hall Effect measurement and atomic force microscopy. Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses revealed a structural change in the DLC films.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.7-17
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• 2014

Power electronics modules are semiconductor components that are widely used in airplanes, trains, automobiles, and energy generation and conversion facilities. In particular, insulated gate bipolar transistors(IGBT) have been widely utilized in high power and fast switching applications for power management including power supplies, uninterruptible power systems, and AC/DC converters. In these days, IGBT are the predominant power semiconductors for high current applications in electrical and hybrid vehicles application. In these application environments, the physical conditions are often severe with strong electric currents, high voltage, high temperature, high humidity, and vibrations. Therefore, IGBT module packages involves a number of challenges for the design engineer in terms of reliability. Thermal and thermal-mechanical management are critical for power electronics modules. The failure mechanisms that limit the number of power cycles are caused by the coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between the materials used in the IGBT modules. All interfaces in the module could be locations for potential failures. Therefore, a proper thermal design where the temperature does not exceed an allowable limit of the devices has been a key factor in developing IGBT modules. In this paper, we discussed the effects of various package materials on heat dissipation and thermal management, as well as recent technology of the new package materials.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.325-330
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• 2007

For the application to optic devices, wafer level package including spacer with particular thickness according to optical design could be required. In these cases, the uniformity of spacer thickness is important for bonding strength and optical performance. Packaging process has to be performed at low temperature in order to prevent damage to devices fabricated before packaging. And if photosensitive material is used as spacer layer, size and shape of pattern and thickness of spacer can be easily controlled. This paper presents polymer bonding using thick, uniform and patterned spacing layer of SU-8 2100 photoresist for wafer level package. SU-8, negative photoresist, can be coated uniformly by spin coater and it is cured at $95^{\circ}C$ and bonded well near the temperature. It can be bonded to silicon well, patterned with high aspect ratio and easy to form thick layer due to its high viscosity. It is also mechanically strong, chemically resistive and thermally stable. But adhesion of SU-8 to glass is poor, and in the case of forming thick layer, SU-8 layer leans from the perpendicular due to imbalance to gravity. To solve leaning problem, the wafer rotating system was introduced. Imbalance to gravity of thick layer was cancelled out through rotating wafer during curing time. And depositing additional layer of gold onto glass could improve adhesion strength of SU-8 to glass. Conclusively, we established the coating condition for forming patterned SU-8 layer with $400{\mu}m$ of thickness and 3.25 % of uniformity through single coating. Also we improved tensile strength from hundreds kPa to maximum 9.43 MPa through depositing gold layer onto glass substrate.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.225-238
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• 2010

We report on the development of a new technology for the fabrication of Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System (MEMS) strain sensors to realize a novel type of crackmeter for health monitoring of ageing civil infrastructures. The fabrication of micromachined silicon MEMS sensors based on a Silicon On Insulator (SOI) technology, designed according to a Double Ended Tuning Fork (DETF) geometry is presented, using a novel process which includes a gap narrowing procedure suitable to fabricate sensors with low motional resistance. In order to employ these sensors for crack monitoring, techniques suited for bonding the MEMS sensors on a steel surface ensuring good strain transfer from steel to silicon and a packaging technique for the bonded sensors are proposed, conceived for realizing a low-power crackmeter for ageing infrastructure monitoring. Moreover, the design of a possible crackmeter geometry suited for detection of crack contraction and expansion with a resolution of $10{\mu}m$ and very low power consumption requirements (potentially suitable for wireless operation) is presented. In these sensors, the small crackmeter range for the first field use is related to long-term observation on existing cracks in underground tunnel test sections.