A fluxless process of producing tin-rich gold-tin joints in air

A soldering process performed in ambient air without the use of any flux is reported. We believe that this is the first time fluxless soldering process is successfully done in air without prior fluorine treatment. The fluxless process is implemented using Au-Sn binary system. It is based on Au-Sn multilayer design that is substantially tin-rich, namely, with 95 at.% Sn (91.8 wt.% Sn) and 5 at.% Au (8.2 wt.% Au). Over the past 15 years, we have developed numerous fluxless bonding processes. These processes require environments such as H/sub 2/ or N/sub 2/ during the bonding process to inhibit solder oxidation. This requirement is not compatible with the pick-and-place bonding machines widely employed in the industry. Thus, fluxless processing in air has been our lifelong endeavor. After many attempts, we finally achieved some initial success. The bonding process is carried out at 225/spl deg/C. The resulting joints are nearly void-free as confirmed by scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM). To study the microstructure and composition of the samples, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy was performed on the joint cross-section. The results show that the joint is composed of AuSn/sub 4/ intermetallic grains embedded in a Sn matrix. Re-melting temperatures of the solder joints were measured to range from 214/spl deg/C to 220/spl deg/C, which are consistent with data on the Au-Sn phase diagram.     

A fluxless flip-chip bonding for VCSEL arrays using silver-coated indium solder bumps

Alloys of lead-tin system are the most common solder alloys used today. However, there are environmental and health issues concerning the toxicity of lead present in these lead-tin solder alloys. Also, the flux residue removal is mandatory and leads to environmental threats. More importantly, the use of flux may contaminate the optically active surface by organic residue leftover, and a conventional cleaning method may not be effective for optoelectronic assemblies. Therefore, it is necessary to look for fluxless soldering processes for soldering optoelectronic systems. In the present study, we have conducted low-temperature flip-chip bonding of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays on a glass substrate that provides propagation paths of laser beams and also supports a polymeric waveguide. Considering both the die shear test and the spreading test, the appropriate bonding temperature and pressure using indium solder bump were found to be about 150/spl deg/C/500 gf. The fracture occured between the indium solder bump and the VCSEL chip pad during the die shear test. It is inferred that both the low bonding temperature and the oxide layer which is formed on the surface of the indium solder prevented the bump from interacting with the chip pad. We expect the thin silver layer coating on the indium bump to protect the inner indium solder from oxidation and to decrease the melting temperature of the indium solder. Thus, we try coating a thin silver layer onto the indium surface. An eutectic reaction occurs at 97 wt.% of In with an eutectic point of 144/spl deg/C and the outer silver layer interacts with indium to form a AgIn/sub 2/ compound layer due to the high interdiffusion coefficient. As a result, the thin silver layer coated on the solder bump is very effective to enhance the adhesion strength between the indium bump and the VCSEL chip pads by decreasing the melting temperature of the indium solder bump locally.     

SiC thin-film Fabry-Perot interferometer for fiber-optic temperature sensor

Polycrystalline SiC grown on single-crystal sapphire substrates have been investigated as thin-film Fabry-Perot interferometers for fiber-optic temperature measurements in harsh temperatures. SiC-based temperature sensors are compact in size, robust, and stable at high temperatures, making them one of the best choices for high temperature applications. SiC films with thickness of about 0.5-2.0 /spl mu/m were grown at 1100/spl deg/C by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with trimethylsilane. The effect of operating temperature on the shifts in resonance minima, /spl Delta//spl lambda//sub m/, of the SiC/sapphire substrate has been measured in the visible-infrared wavelength range. A temperature sensitivity of 1.9/spl times/10/sup -5///spl deg/C is calculated using the minimum at /spl sim/700 nm. Using a white, broadband light source, a temperature accuracy of /spl plusmn/3.5/spl deg/C is obtained over the temperature range of 22/spl deg/C to 540/spl deg/C.     

An investigation of effects of Sb on the intermetallic formation in Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu solder joints

This study investigates the microstructural evolution and kinetics of intermetallic (IMC) formation in Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu lead-free solder joints with different percentages of Sb element, namely, Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu-xSb (x=0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0). To investigate the elemental interdiffusion and growth kinetics of IMC formation, isothermal aging test is performed at temperatures of 100/spl deg/C, 150/spl deg/C, and 190/spl deg/C, respectively. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used to measure the thickness of intermetallic layer and observe the microstructural evolution of solder joint. The IMC phases are identified by EDX and XRD. Results show that some of the antimony powders are dissolved in the /spl beta/-Sn matrix (Sn-rich phase), some of them participate in the formation of Ag/sub 3/(Sn,Sb) and the rest dissolves in the Cu/sub 6/Sn/sub 5/ IMC layer. There is a significant drop in IMC thickness when Sb is added to 0.8 wt%. Over this amount the thickness of the IMC increases slightly again. The activation energy and growth rate of the IMC formation are determined. Results reveal that adding antimony in Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu solder system can increase the activation energy, and thus reduce the atomic diffusion rate, so as to inhibit the excessive growth of the IMC. The solder joint containing 0.8 wt% antimony has the highest activation energy. SEM images reveal that the number of small particles precipitating in the solder matrix increases with the increase in Sb composition. Based on the observation of the microstructural evolution of the solder joints, a grain boundary pinning mechanism for inhibition of the IMC growth due to Sb addition is proposed.     

High temperature dielectric stability of liquid crystal polymer at mm-wave frequencies

The temperature dependent dielectric stability and transmission line losses of liquid crystal polymer (LCP) are determined from 11-105 GHz. Across this frequency range, LCP's temperature coefficient of dielectric constant, /spl tau//sub /spl epsi/r/, has an average value of -42 ppm//spl deg/C. At 11GHz the /spl tau//sub /spl epsi/r/ is the best (-3 ppm//spl deg/C), but this value degrades slightly with increasing frequency. This /spl tau//sub /spl epsi/r/ average value compares well with the better commercially available microwave substrates. In addition, it includes information for mm-wave frequencies whereas standard values for /spl tau//sub /spl epsi/r/ are usually only given at 10 GHz or below. Transmission line losses on 3- and 5-mil LCP substrates increase by approximately 20% at 75/spl deg/C and 50% or more at 125/spl deg/C. These insertion loss increases can be used as a design guide for LCP circuits expected to be exposed to elevated operating temperatures.     

Self-heating of submicrometer InP-InGaAs DHBTs

We studied the thermal properties of submicron InP-InGaAs-InP double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) with emitter dimensions of A = 0.25 /spl times/ 4 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. From the temperature dependence of V/sub bc/, we measured a thermal resistance of R/sub th/ = 3.3 /spl deg/C/mW for DHBTs with ion-implanted n+-InP subcollector at room temperature, compared to a high R/sub th/ = 7.5 /spl deg/C/mW from DHBTs with conventional grown InGaAs subcollector. Two-dimensional device simulations confirm the measured results.     

Thermal and mechanical stability of soldering QFP with Sn-Bi-Ag lead-free alloy

Thermal stability of the circuit boards with a quad flat package (QFP) soldered with Sn-58wt%Bi-(0, 0.5 and 1.0) wt% Ag and their microstructural features were evaluated. The addition of 1.0 wt% Ag causes the formation of large primary Ag/sub 3/Sn precipitates in the solder while no primary Ag/sub 3/Sn is found in Sn-57Bi-0.5Ag. Thermo-Calc calculation indicates that the lowest limit content for the formation of primary Ag/sub 3/Sn is about 0.8 wt%. Heat-exposure below 100/spl deg/C has no serious degradation on the joint structure for all solders. Heat-exposure at 125/spl deg/C caused serious degradation in joint strength for all alloys. The contamination of Pb from Sn-Pb surface plating on the components reduces the interface tolerance by forming ternary Sn-Pb-Bi phase melting at low temperature. Thermal fatigue between -20 and 80/spl deg/C does not have any significant influence on joint structure.     

Fluxless Tin and␣Silver-Indium Bonding Processes for␣Silicon onto␣Aluminum

The high thermal conductivity, light weight, and low cost of aluminum (Al) make it a promising material for use in high-power electronic packaging. The challenges are its high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of 23 × 10^?6/°C and difficulty in soldering. In this research, we surmounted these challenges by bonding large Si chips to Al boards using fluxless Sn and Ag-In processes, respectively. Despite the large CTE mismatch, the bonded structures were strong as determined by fracture force measured by shear test machine. The reference is the fracture force specified in MIL-STD-883H method 2019.8. The microstructure and composition of the joints were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis. The resulting Sn joint is almost pure Sn with thin intermetallic layer. The Ag-In joint consists of Ag/(Ag)/Ag₂In/(Ag)/Ag that has a melting temperature higher than 695°C even though the bonding process was performed at 180°C. These bonding processes are entirely fluxless. The fluxless feature greatly helps reduce voids in the joints, which in turn increases the joint strength. These preliminary but encouraging results should open up new applications of Al boards in electronic packaging where Al was avoided because of its high CTE and difficulty in bonding.     

Continuous-wave operation up to 36/spl deg/C of 1.3-/spl mu/m GaInAsP-InP vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We introduced ion-beam assisted deposition in order to improve the quality of Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ and SiO/sub 2/, which were used as part of the mirrors of 1.3-/spl mu/m GaInAsP-InP vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The refractive index of Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ was improved to 1.63 from 1.56 and the one of SiO/sub 2/ increased to 1.47 from 1.45. Low-threshold room-temperature continuous-wave (CW) operation of 1.3-/spl mu/m VCSEL with the improved mirrors was demonstrated. The threshold current was 2.4 mA at 20/spl deg/C. The CW operating temperature was raised to 36/spl deg/C, which is a record high temperature for 1.3-/spl mu/m VCSEL.     

Fabrication of niobium titanium nitride thin films with high superconducting transition temperatures and short penetration lengths

We report a systematic study of the superconducting and normal state properties of reactively sputtered Nb/sub 0.62/Ti/sub 0.38/N thin films deposited on thermally oxidized Si wafers. The superconducting transition temperature (T/sub c/) was found to increase from 12 K for films prepared on unheated substrates to over 16 K for films prepared on substrates maintained at 450/spl deg/C. A Nb buffer layer was found to improve T/sub c/ by /spl sim/0.5 K for growths at lower substrate temperatures. The films fabricated at 450/spl deg/C have an amply smooth surface (1.5/spl plusmn/0.25 nm root mean square roughness), a sufficiently high T/sub c/, and sufficiently small penetration depth (200/spl plusmn/20 nm at 10 K) to be useful as ground planes and electrodes for current-generation 10 K rapid single-flux quantum circuit technology.     

A new COG technique using low temperature solder bumps for LCD driver IC packaging applications

A new chip on glass (COG) technique using flip chip solder joining technology has been developed for excellent resolution and high quality liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. The flip chip solder joining technology has several advantages over the anisotropic conductive film (ACF) bonding technology: finer pitch capability, better electrical performance, and easier reworkability. Conventional solders such as eutectic Pb-Sn and Pb-5Sn require high temperature processing which can lead to degradation of the liquid crystal or the color filter in LCD modules. Thus it is desirable to develop a low temperature process below 160/spl deg/C using solders with low melting temperatures for this application. In our case, we used eutectic 58 wt%Bi-42 wt%Sn solder for this purpose. Using the eutectic Bi-Sn solder bumps of 50-80/spl mu/m pitch sizes, an ultrafine interconnection between the IC and glass substrate was successfully made at or below 160/spl deg/C. The average contact resistance of the Bi-Sn solder joints was 19m/spl Omega/ per bump, which is much lower than the contact resistance of conventional ACF bonding technologies. The contact resistance of the underfilled Bi-Sn solder joints did not change during a hot humidity test. We demonstrate that the COG technique using low temperature solder joints can be applied to advanced LCDs that lead to require excellent quality, high resolution, and low power consumption.     

Electrical characterization and material evaluation of zirconium oxynitride gate dielectric in TaN-gated NMOSFETs with high-temperature forming gas annealing

The electrical, material, and reliability characteristics of zirconium oxynitride (Zr-oxynitride) gate dielectrics were evaluated. The nitrogen (/spl sim/1.7%) in Zr-oxynitride was primarily located at the Zr-oxynitride/Si interface and helped to preserve the composition of the nitrogen-doped Zr-silicate interfacial layer (IL) during annealing as compared to the ZrO/sub 2/ IL - resulting in improved thermal stability of the Zr-oxynitride. In addition, the Zr-oxynitride demonstrated a higher crystallization temperature (/spl sim/600/spl deg/C) as compared to ZrO/sub 2/ (/spl sim/400/spl deg/C). Reliability characterization was performed after TaN-gated nMOSFET fabrication of Zr-oxynitride and ZrO/sub 2/ devices with equivalent oxide thickness (EOTs) of 10.3 /spl Aring/ and 13.8 /spl Aring/, respectively. Time-zero dielectric breakdown and time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) characteristics revealed higher dielectric strength and effective breakdown field for the Zr-oxynitride. High-temperature forming gas (HTFG) annealing on TaN/Zr-oxynitride nMOSFETs with an EOT of 11.6 /spl Aring/ demonstrated reduced D/sub it/, which resulted in reduced swing (69 mV/decade), reduced off-state leakage current, higher transconductance, and higher mobility. The peak mobility was increased by almost fourfold from 97 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s to 383 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s after 600/spl deg/C HTFG annealing.     

Room-temperature self-organised In/sub 0.5/Ga/sub 0.5/As quantum dot laser on silicon

The first room-temperature operation of In/sub 0.5/Ga/sub 0.5/As quantum dot lasers grown directly on Si substrates with a thin (/spl les/2 /spl mu/m) GaAs buffer layer is reported. The devices are characterised by J/sub th//spl sim/1500 A/cm/sup 2/, output power >50 mW, and large T/sub 0/ (244 K) and constant output slope efficiency (/spl ges/0.3 W/A) in the temperature range 5-95/spl deg/C.     

Superlattice microrefrigerators fusion bonded with optoelectronic devices

A three-dimensional (3-D) electrothermal model was developed to study the InP-based thin-film In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As/In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As superlattice (SL) microrefrigerators for various device sizes, ranging from 40/spl times/40 to 120/spl times/120/spl mu/m /sup 2/. We discussed both the maximum cooling and cooling power densities (CPDs) for experimental devices, analyzed their nonidealities, and proposed an optimized structure. The simulation results demonstrated that the experimental devices with an optimized structure can achieve a maximum cooling of 3/spl deg/C, or equivalently, a CPD over 300W/cm/sup 2/. Furthermore, we found it was possible to achieve a maximum cooling of over 10/spl deg/C; equivalently, a CPD over 900W/cm/sup 2/, when the figure of merit (ZT) of InGaAs/InAlAs SL was enhanced five times with nonconserved lateral momentum structures. Besides monolithic growth, we also proposed a fusion bonding scheme to simply bond the microrefrigerator chip on the back of the hot spots, defined as two-chip integration model in this paper. The cooling effect of this model was analyzed using ANSYS simulations.     

Microstructure, joint strength and failure mechanisms of SnPb and Pb-free solders in BGA packages

The microstructure, joint strength and failure mechanisms of SnPbAg, SnAg and SnAgCu solders on Cu/Ni/Au BGA pad metallization were investigated after multiple reflows or high temperature aging. In the SnPbAg system, a two-layer structure, i.e., Ni/sub 3/Sn/sub 4/ and (Au, Ni)Sn/sub 4/, was formed at the solder-substrate metallization interface after aging at 125, 150, and 175/spl deg/C. However, such structure was not present in the two Pb-free solder systems. Only a layer of Ni/sub 3/Sn/sub 4/ intermetallic compound in the SnAg system and a layer of Cu-Sn-Ni-Au intermetallic compound in the SnAgCu system were found at respective interfaces, even after the two solder systems had been heat treated for 1000 h at the afore-mentioned temperatures. The formation of the (Au, Ni)Sn/sub 4/ ternary compound in the SnPbAg system was due to re-settlement of Au at the interface which led to brittle failure in this system during ball shear testing. In contrast, SnAg and SnAgCu systems failed exclusively inside the solder ball during shear testing after aging at 150/spl deg/C for up to 1000 h. The two Pb-free solder systems showed good resistance to thermal aging with the solder ball shear strength being maintained at 1.60 to 1.70 kgf. The SnPbAg system degraded in mechanical performance with aging time and had strength as low as 1.20 kgf after aging at 150/spl deg/C for 1000 h. The growth rates of intermetallic compound layers at 125, 150, and 175/spl deg/C aging temperatures and the activation energy for the formation of different intermetallic compound layers were also determined in this investigation.     

The Earth observing system microwave limb sounder (EOS MLS) on the aura Satellite

The Earth Observing System Microwave Limb Sounder measures several atmospheric chemical species (OH, HO/sub 2/, H/sub 2/O, O/sub 3/, HCl, ClO, HOCl, BrO, HNO/sub 3/, N/sub 2/O, CO, HCN, CH/sub 3/CN, volcanic SO/sub 2/), cloud ice, temperature, and geopotential height to improve our understanding of stratospheric ozone chemistry, the interaction of composition and climate, and pollution in the upper troposphere. All measurements are made simultaneously and continuously, during both day and night. The instrument uses heterodyne radiometers that observe thermal emission from the atmospheric limb in broad spectral regions centered near 118, 190, 240, and 640 GHz, and 2.5 THz. It was launched July 15, 2004 on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Aura satellite and started full-up science operations on August 13, 2004. An atmospheric limb scan and radiometric calibration for all bands are performed routinely every 25 s. Vertical profiles are retrieved every 165 km along the suborbital track, covering 82/spl deg/S to 82/spl deg/N latitudes on each orbit. Instrument performance to date has been excellent; data have been made publicly available; and initial science results have been obtained.     

Effects of Cu/Al intermetallic compound (IMC) on copper wire and aluminum pad bondability

Copper wire bonding is an alternative interconnection technology that serves as a viable, and cost saving alternative to gold wire bonding. Its excellent mechanical and electrical characteristics attract the high-speed, power management devices and fine-pitch applications. Copper wire bonding can be a potentially alternative interconnection technology along with flip chip interconnection. However, the growth of Cu/Al intermetallic compound (IMC) at the copper wire and aluminum interface can induce a mechanical failure and increase a potential contact resistance. In this study, the copper wire bonded chip samples were annealed at the temperature range from 150/spl deg/C to 300/spl deg/C for 2 to 250 h, respectively. The formation of Cu/Al IMC was observed and the activation energy of Cu/Al IMC growth was obtained from an Arrhenius plot (ln (growth rate) versus 1/T). The obtained activation energy was 26Kcal/mol and the behavior of IMC growth was very sensitive to the annealing temperature. To investigate the effects of IMC formation on the copper wire bondability on Al pad, ball shear tests were performed on annealed samples. For as-bonded samples, ball shear strength ranged from 240-260gf, and ball shear strength changed as a function of annealing times. For annealed samples, fracture mode changed from adhesive failure at Cu/Al interface to IMC layer or Cu wire itself. The IMC growth and the diffusion rate of aluminum and copper were closely related to failure mode changes. Micro-XRD was performed on fractured pads and balls to identify the phases of IMC and their effects on the ball bonding strength. From XRD results, it was confirmed that the major IMC was /spl gamma/-Cu/sub 9/Al/sub 4/ and it provided a strong bondability.     

Wide-range temperature dependence of Brillouin shift in a dispersion-shifted fiber and its annealing effect

Temperature dependence of the Brillouin shift in a commercially available dispersion-shifted fiber has been experimentally investigated in the range of 20 to 820/spl deg/C. When the as-fabricated fiber underwent a temperature cycle in the entire temperature rage, the Brillouin shift exhibited a noticeable hysteresis having the maximum frequency discrepancy of 48 MHz or larger between heating and cooling processes. After the fiber was annealed for 9 h at 850/spl deg/C, however, the hysteresis almost disappeared and, among repeated temperature cycles in the ranges of 20-820/spl deg/C and of 500-800/spl deg/C, the maximum frequency discrepancy was reduced to /spl plusmn/12.5 MHz or less. It is thus demonstrated that a suitably annealed fiber is reliable for the Brillouin shift-based distributed sensing over the wide temperature range.     

High sensitivity Si-based backward diodes for zero-biased square-law detection and the effect of post-growth annealing on performance

High-sensitivity Si-based backward diodes were realized that are monolithically integratable with transistor circuitry. Potential applications include large area focal plane arrays. The Si-based backward diodes exhibit a high zero-biased curvature coefficient, /spl gamma/, of 31 V/sup -1/ and a low zero biased junction capacitance, C/sub j/, of 9 fF//spl mu/m/sup 2/, all at room temperature. The predicted low frequency voltage sensitivity, /spl beta//sub V/, for a 50 /spl Omega/ source is 3100 V/W. The high sensitivity, low junction capacitance, and Si/SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor compatibility of the Si-based backward diodes make them very attractive for zero-bias square-law detector applications.     

Self-aligned nickel, cobalt/tantalum nitride stacked-gate pMOSFETs fabricated with a low temperature process after metal electrode deposition

This letter reports the first replacement (Damascene) metal gate pMOSFETs fabricated with Ni/TaN, Co/TaN stacked electrode, where Ni or Co is in direct contact with the gate SiO/sub 2/, to adjust the electrode metal work function and TaN is used as the filling material for the gate electrode to avoid wet etching and CMP problems. The process is similar to the fabrication of traditional self-aligned polysilicon gate MOSFETs, except that in the back end (after the source/drain implants are activated) a few processing steps are added to replace the polysilicon with metal. Our data show that the Ni or Co/TaN gate electrode has the right work function for the pMOSFETs. The metal gate process can reduce the gate resistivity. Thermal stability of the stacked electrodes is studied and the result is reported in this paper. The damascene process flow bypasses high temperature steps (> 400/spl deg/C)critical for metal gate and hi k materials. This paper demonstrates that a low temperature anneal (300/spl deg/C) can improve the device performance. In this paper, the gate dielectrics is SiO/sub 2/.