| Abstract: | The underfill material is a polymeric adhesive used in flip chip packaging. It encapsulates the solder joints by filling the gap between a silicon die and an organic substrate or board. Within a typical flip chip structure, there are interfaces between the various components, namely, substrate, solder mask, flux residue, underfill encapsulant and die passivation layer, etc. Maintaining a good adhesion condition, both as-made and after temperature/humidity aging, is vital for these interfaces because of the expected performance of the flip chip device, where the underfill material is employed to enhance the reliability of the flip chip interconnect. We have studied the adhesion strength between the various components for different process variables as measured with the lap shear and die shear test configurations. The effects of the assembly factors, i.e. solder mask, flux residue, underfill, and die passivation, etc., were evaluated and the adhesion strength was found to depend greatly on these factors. The die shear strength of a passivated die assembled onto an organic board coated with a solder mask was much higher after using a no-clean flux on the solder mask than for the assembly without such a no-clean flux. The influence of some accelerated aging tests on the adhesion durability was also investigated. A die passivation layer of benzocyclobutene exhibited better capability in retaining the die shear strength than a passivation layer of silicon nitride or polyimide, especially for the initial aging period. The knowledge obtained in this study should provide insights into the interfacial adhesion in the flip chip assembly structure. |
