• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.61-67
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• 2005

Since lead (Pb)-free solders for electronics have higher melting points than that of eutectic Sn-Pb solder, they need higher soldering temperatures. In order to decrease the soldering temperature we tried to coat Sn-Bi layer on $Sn-3.5\%Ag$ solder by electroplating, which applies the mechanism of transient liquid phase bonding to soldering. During heating Bi will diffuse into the $Sn-3.5\%Ag$ solder and this results in decreasing soldering temperature. As bonding samples, the 1608 capacitor electroplated with Sn, and PCB, its surface was finished with electroless-plated Ni/Au, were selected. The $Sn-95.7\%Bi$ coated Sn-3.5Ag was supplied as a solder between the capacitor and PCB land. The samples were reflowed at $220^{\circ}C$, which was lower than that of normal reflow temperature, $240\~250^{\circ}C$, for the Pb-free. As experimental result, the joint of $Sn-95.7\%Bi$ coated Sn-3.5Ag showed high shear strength. In the as-reflowed state, the shear strength of the coated solder showed 58.8N, whereas those of commercial ones were 37.2N (Sn-37Pb), 31.4N (Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu), and 40.2N (Sn-8Zn-3Bi). After thermal shock of 1000 cycles between $-40^{\circ}C$ and $+125^{\circ}C$, shear strength of the coated solder showed 56.8N, whereas the previous commercial solders were in the range of 32.3N and 45.1N. As the microstructures, in the solder $Ag_3Sn$ intermetallic compound (IMC), and along the bonded interface $Ni_3Sn_4$ IMC were observed.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.34-40
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• 2005

There have been numerous approaches to examine the bonding strengths of solder joints. However, despite the technical and practical limitations, the precedent test methods such as the ball shear and ball pull tests are being used in industrial applications. In this study, the optimum jaw pressure with the modified protrusion jaw was introduced in order to obtain higher successful rate f3r ball pull testing. Furthermore, the pull strengths and fracture modes of Sn-8Zn-3Bi, Sn-4Ag-0.7Cu, and Sn-37Pb eutectic solder after isothermal aging tests ($100^{\circ}C,\;150^{\circ}C$), were evaluated with the protrusion jaw. The pull strength-displacement hysteresis curves and fracture surfaces were carefully investigated to evaluate the correlation between the pull strengths and the fracture modes of each solder. In conclusion, it is verified that Au-Zn IMCs (Intermetallic Compounds) have a detrimental effect on the pull strengths and changed fracture modes of Sn-8Zn-3Bi solder. Meanwhile, the microstructure transformation influences the degradation of pull strengths of Sn-4Ag-0.7Cu and Sn-37Pb solders.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.29-36
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• 2008

In this paper, mechanical reliability issues of copper through-wafer interconnections are investigated numerically and experimentally. A hermetic wafer level packaging for MEMS devices is developed. Au-Sn eutectic bonding technology is used to achieve hermetic sealing, and the vertical through-hole via filled with electroplated copper for the electrical connection is also used. The MEMS package has the size of $1mm{\times}1mm{\times}700{\mu}m$. The robustness of the package is confirmed by several reliability tests. Several factors which could induce via hole cracking failure are investigated such as thermal expansion mismatch, via etch profile, and copper diffusion phenomenon. Alternative electroplating process is suggested for preventing Cu diffusion and increasing the adhesion performance of the electroplating process. After implementing several improvements, reliability tests were performed, and via hole cracking as well as significant changes in the shear strength were not observed. Helium leak testing indicated that the leak rate of the package meets the requirements of MIL-STD-883F specification.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.300-305
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• 2018

The uncooled microbolometer thermal sensor for low cost and mass volume was designed to target the new infrared market that includes smart device, automotive, energy management, and so on. The microbolometer sensor features 80x60 pixels low-resolution format and enables the use of wafer-level vacuum packaging (WLVP) technology. Read-out IC (ROIC) implements infrared signal detection and offset correction for fixed pattern noise (FPN) using an internal digital to analog convertor (DAC) value control function. A reliable WLVP thermal sensor was obtained with the design of lid wafer, the formation of Au80%wtSn20% eutectic solder, outgassing control and wafer to wafer bonding condition. The measurement of thermal conductance enables us to inspect the internal atmosphere condition of WLVP microbolometer sensor. The difference between the measurement value and design one is $3.6{\times}10-9$ [W/K] which indicates that thermal loss is mainly on account of floating legs. The mean time to failure (MTTF) of a WLVP thermal sensor is estimated to be about 10.2 years with a confidence level of 95 %. Reliability tests such as high temperature/low temperature, bump, vibration, etc. were also conducted. Devices were found to work properly after accelerated stress tests. A thermal camera with visible camera was developed. The thermal camera is available for non-contact temperature measurement providing an image that merged the thermal image and the visible image.