Sn-Cu near eutectic solder bump was fabricated by electroplating for flip-chip, and its electroplating and bump characteristics were studied. A Si-wafer was used as a substrate and the under bump metallization (UBM) comprised 400 nm of Al, 300 nm of Cu, 400 nm of Ni, and 20 nm of Au sequentially from bottom to the top of the metallization. The electrolyte for plating Sn-Cu solder consisted of Sn +2 (concentration of 30 g/L) and Cu +2 (0.3 g/L) solutions with methasulfonic acid and deionized water. The experimental results showed that the plating ratio of the Sn-Cu increased from 0.25 to 2.7 min with increasing current density from 1 to 8 A/dm 2 . In this range of current density, the plated Sn-Cu maintained its composition nearly constant level as Sn-(0.9 1.4)wt% Cu. The solder bump of typical mushroom shape with 120-m stem diameter and 75-m height was formed by plating at 5 A/dm 2 for 2 h. The mushroom bump changed its shape to the hemispherical type of 140-m diameter by air reflow on a hot plate at 260 C. The homogeneity of element distribution in the solder bump was examined, and Sn content in the mushroom bump appears to be uneven changed to more uniform after the air reflow. The highest shear bond strength of the Sn-Cu hemispherical bump showed 113 gf by reflowing at 260 C for 10 s.

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The evaporation behavior and characteristics of jet milled RuCr alloy powders processed by radio-frequency (RF) plasma treatment were evaluated during this study. RF plasma treatment was found to be effective in eliminating internal pores and in manufacturing spherical powder. However, the RF plasma treatment resulted in the evaporation of Cr. The degree of evaporation of Cr was significantly affected by the powder feeding rate. As a result, it was found that controlling the torch power was more effective than controlling the powder feeding rate for obtaining desirable RuCr alloy powders.

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Recently, decreasing the amount of indium (In) element in the indium tin oxide (ITO) used for transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin film has become necessary for cost reduction. One possible approach to this problem is using printed ITO thin film instead of sputtered. Previous studies showed potential for printed ITO thin films as the TCO layer. However, nothing has been reported on the reliability of printed ITO thin films. Therefore, in this study, the reliability of printed ITO thin films was characterized. ITO nanoparticle ink was fabricated and printed onto a glass substrate followed by heating at 400 degrees C. After measurement of the initial values of sheet resistance and optical transmittance of the printed ITO thin films, their reliabilities were characterized with an isothermal-isohumidity test for 500 hours at 85 degrees C and 85% RH, a thermal shock test for 1,000 cycles between 125 degrees C and -40 degrees C, and a high temperature storage test for 500 hours at 125 degrees C. The same properties were investigated after the tests. Printed ITO thin films showed stable properties despite extremely thermal and humid conditions. Sheet resistances of the printed ITO thin films changed slightly from 435 omega/square to 735 omega/square 507 omega/square and 442 omega/square after the tests, respectively. Optical transmittances of the printed ITO thin films were slightly changed from 84.74% to 81.86%, 88.03% and 88.26% after the tests, respectively. These test results suggest the stability of printed ITO thin film despite extreme environments.