Performance of Silver Nano Particles as an Electronics Packaging Interconnects Material

Abstract

Silver nano particle materials are investigated for use in microelectronics packaging as an innovative lead-free interconnect material. The nano particle materials were evaluated in terms of mechanical, electrical, metallurgical, and reliability performance. The silver nano particles are around 8nm in diameter and are sintered at a temperature of 230C to form material nearly indistinguishable from the bulk metal. Sintering behaviors are examined to see how the nano particles form grains with different sintering process conditions; resistivity is measured to estimate the electrical performance of the sintered nano particles; adhesion tests are conducted for measuring the adhesion strength of the processed silver nano particle materials with other packaging materials; leakage current measurement is performed to see the silver electro-migration effect; frequency response is measured for RF applications, and thermal shock tests are conducted to evaluate the electronics packages of electronics packages using the silver nano particle interconnect materials.