Reduction in the sintering temperature of metal powders by lowering particle size into the nanoparticle range has resulted in a new class of porous sintered joining materials.Especially promising are sintered silver based materials which can be used to form bonds between wide-bandgap semiconductor die and circuit boards for use in high temperature applications. This work shows that for these materials the exterior sintered silver surface oxidizes preventing surface morphology changes, while the interior pore surfaces of the porous silver remain largely oxide-free. These pore surfaces facilitate fast atomic movement resulting in grain growth and changes in the internal microstructure.Morphology changes in the temperature range 200-400 °C are presented both as statistical averages of grain size and, uniquely in this type of study, by tracking individual pores and grains. It is shown that the internal structure will undergo changes during high temperature storage in contrast to the stable outer surface. A new technique, utilizing the electromigration effect to check the relative surface mobility of atoms in the interior pores and exterior surfaces was used to support the conclusions deduced from thermal ageing 2 experiments. Finally, we speculate that the stability of the exterior surface could be reproduced in the interior if the chemistry of the paste was altered to allow formation of a passivating layer on the interior pores during the final stages of the sintering process, resulting in formation of a stable die attach material for applications of up to 400 °C, for which there is an urgent need.

No abstract

The behaviour of sintered silver die attach at high temperature has been investigated. Assemblies were made by sintering a commercially available paste composed of Ag nanoparticles with zero applied pressure on the die. The morphology of the cross sectioned surface of assemblies remains stable even at temperatures of up to 400 °C. This behaviour remained consistent even inside vacuum or after acid cleaning of the free surface. In contrast, the same sintered Ag material in the interior of a joint or sintered under a glass cover slip showed rapid microstructural changes even at 300 °C. These samples were investigated using an optical microscope to analyse the changes in the microstructure after storage at 200 to 500 °C. The observations showed a 20% increase in silver grain size after only 5 h storage at 300 °C. However, in the case of a free surface, no changes were observed after 60h storage at 400 °C. These observations were combined with DSC experiments in order to suggest the cause of the difference in behaviour. The results suggest ways of stabilizing sintered silver materials so that they can be used in applications up to 400 °C without significant structural changes occurring in the material.

Abstract:A novel and simple processing step has been demonstrated to produce thermally stable sintered silver nanoparticles structures. Sintered silver has been investigated as a die attach to resolve the long-standing demand for a reliable material to enable high power/temperature electronics operating above 300 °C. However, it is now a well-known fact that such materials undergo massive microstructural evolution at 250 °C and above, creating doubts about their longterm reliability. Here an additional processing step utilizing oxidizing treatment is demonstrated to immobilize the silver atoms through formation of Ag2O. This technique stabilizes sintered silver up to 400 °C, taking advantage of the open pore network to facilitate treatment deep in the material interior.

No abstract