Flip Chip on Organic Board Technology using Modified Anisotropic Conductive Films and Electroless Nickel/Gold Bump

Abstract

Flip chip assembly directly on organic boards offers miniaturization of package size as well as reduction in interconnection distances resulting in a high performance and cost-competitive Packaging method. This paper describes the investigation of alternative low cost flip-chip mounting processes using electroless Ni/Au bump and anisotropic conductive adhesives/films as an interconnection material on organic boards such as FR-4. As bumps for flip chip, electroless Ni/Au plating was performed and characterized in mechanical and metallurgical point of view. Effect of annealing on Ni bump characteristics informed that the formation of crystalline nickel with $Ni_3$P precipitation above 300℃ causes an increase of hardness and an increase of the intrinsic stress resulting in a reliability limitation. As an interconnection material, modified ACFs composed of nickel conductive fillers for electrical conductor and non-conductive inorganic fillers for modification of film properties such as coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE) and tensile strength were formulated for improved electrical and mechanical properties of ACF interconnection. The thermal fatigue life of ACA/F flip chip on organic board limited by the thermal expansion mismatch between the chip and the board could be increased by a modified ACA/F. Three ACF materials with different CTE values were prepared and bonded between Si chip and FR-4 board for the thermal strain measurement using moire interferometry. The thermal strain of ACF interconnection layer induced by temperature excursion of 80℃ was decreased with decreasing CTEs of ACF materials.