In general, although abundant literature studies are
available
on epoxy resin systems, a complete description of the curing kinetics
in epoxy–cyanate ester composites relevant to the microelectronics
industry is still lacking. Herein, curing behaviors of Ajinomoto build-up
films, which are epoxy/silica composites, were studied by the non-isothermal
differential scanning calorimetry method, and then, three non-isothermal
curing kinetics models and model-free curing methods were used to
analyze curing behaviors. In addition, a copper layer was also deposited
onto the surface of the build-up film, and its interfacial adhesion
property was also analyzed at different pre-curing conditions. The
results showed that the curing reaction of the build-up film contains
two curing reaction processes, and the first curing process is suited
for the autocatalytic curing model, while the other curing process
is suited for the Kamal curing kinetics model. Three model-free curing
methods were used to calculate the activating energy at different
degrees of curing, which indicated that the activating energy is variable
during the whole curing process. The interfacial adhesion strength
between the build-up film and copper layer decreased with the increase
in the degree of curing, which is attributed to the contribution of
mechanical anchoring. This work will offer guidance in curing behaviors
for improving interfacial bonding force and controlling warpage behavior
for chip substrates in the future.