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Sintered nanoscale silver paste provides a low-temperature alternative to solder for die attachment. Unlike solder, the sintered attachment does not melt upon reaching the original attachment temperature and therefore may be used at higher temperatures. Higher electrical and thermal conductivities mean less Joule heating and better heat dissipation characteristics and the porous microstructure imparts low elastic modulus for lower thermomechanical stress and enhanced reliability. The state of the technology has reached a point where it is now possible to obtain die-shear strengths comparable to solder at sintering temperatures between 250°C and 280°C with little or no applied pressure, depending on the chip size. In addition to attachments on silver or gold-coated surfaces, it is possible to form bonds on bare copper if done under inert or slightly reducing atmosphere. Because attainment of a strong bond depends on the paste being in contact with a clean (oxide-free or untarnished) surface, a study was made to determine if the attachment process will work on copper leadframes with either an anti-tarnish or anti-EBO (epoxy bleed-out) coating. Small mechanical silicon chips less that 3 mm × 3 mm in size were attached without pressure at temperatures as low as 260°C. The sintering atmosphere in the chamber was varied from pure nitrogen, to nitrogen + 4% hydrogen and to nitrogen + 1% oxygen. Attachments sintered in pure nitrogen or nitrogen with hydrogen produced die-shear strengths of at least 30 MPa and were just as strong as those bonded on bare copper. Sintering in nitrogen + 1 % oxygen caused the die-shear strength to drop below 30 MPa but still above 20 MPa. In the presence of oxygen, the binder removal is due to oxidative combustion but the low level of oxygen caused incomplete binder burnout that interfered with the sintering while also causing some oxidation of the copper. On the other hand, the addition of hydrogen appeared to enhance the sintered microstructure accompanied by a slight increase in die shear strength. Sheared attachments that exposed the copper surface showed patches of silver still attached indicating formation of strong bond with the copper.

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