4,495 research outputs found
Short-Time Scale Dynamic Failure Modes in a Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) Flip-Chip Configuration
The demand for high performance microelectronic products drives the
development of 3-D chip-stacking structure. By the introduction of through-silicon-via
(TSV) into 3-D flip-chip packages, microelectronic performance is improved by
increasing circuit capacity and diminishing signal delay. However, TSV-embedded
structure also raises concerns over many reliability issues that come with the steep
thermal and mechanical transient responses, increasing numbers of bi-material interfaces
and reduced component sizes. In this research, defect initiation induced by thermalmechanical
phenomena is studied to establish the early failure modes within 3-D flip-chip
packages. It is found that low amplitude but extremely high frequency thermal
stress waves would occur and attenuate rapidly in the first hundreds of nanoseconds
upon power-on. Although the amplitude of these waves is far below material yielding
points, their intrinsic characteristics of high frequency and high power density are
capable of compromising the integrity of all flip-chip components. By conducting
spectral analysis of the stress waves and applying the methodology of accumulated
damage evaluation, it is demonstrated that micron crack initiation and interconnect debond are highly probable in the immediate proximity of the heat source. Such a
negative impact exerted by the stress wave in the early, while brief, transient period is
recognized as the short time scale dynamic effect. Researched results strongly indicate
that short-time scale effects would inflict very serious reliability issues in 3-D flip-chip
packages. The fact that 3-D flip-chip packages accommodate a large amount of
reduced-size interconnects makes it vulnerable to the attack of short time scale
propagating stress waves. In addition, the stacking structure also renders shearing effect
extremely detrimental to 3-D flip-chip integrity. Finally, several guidelines effective in
discouraging short-time scale effects and thus improving TSV flip-chip package
reliability are propose
Aeroflex Technology as Class-Y Demonstrator
Modern space field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices with increased functional density and operational frequency, such as Xilinx Virtex 4 (V4) and S (V5), are packaged in non-hermetic ceramic flip chip forms. These next generation space parts were not qualified to the MIL-PRF-38535 Qualified Manufacturer Listing (QML) class-V when they were released because class-V was only intended for hermetic parts. In order to bring Xilinx V5 type packages into the QML system, it was suggested that class-Y be set up as a new category. From 2010 through 2014, a JEDEC G12 task group developed screening and qualification requirements for Class-Y products. The Document Standardization Division of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has completed an engineering practice study. In parallel with the class-Y efforts, the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) program has funded JPL to study potential reliability issues of the class-Y products. The major hurdle of this task was the absence of adequate research samples. Figure 1-1 shows schematic diagrams of typical structures of class-Y type products. Typically, class-Y products are either in ceramic flip chip column grid array (CGA) or land grid array (LGA) form. In class-Y packages, underfill and heat spread adhesive materials are directly exposed to the spacecraft environment due to their non-hermeticity. One of the concerns originally raised was that the underfill material could degrade due to the spacecraft environment and negatively impact the reliability of the package. In order to study such issues, it was necessary to use ceramic daisy chain flip chip package samples so that continuity of flip chip solder bumps could be monitored during the reliability tests. However, none of the commercially available class-Y daisy chain parts had electrical connections through flip chip solder bumps; only solder columns were daisy chained, which made it impossible to test continuity of flip chip solder bumps without using extremely costly functional parts. Among space parts manufacturers who were interested in producing class-Y products, Aeroflex Microelectronic Solutions-HiRel had been developing assembly processes using their internal R&D classy type samples. In early 2012, JPL and Aeroflex initiated a collaboration to study reliability of the Aeroflex technology as a class-Y demonstrator
Double-Layer No-Flow Underfill Process for Flip-Chip Applications
©2003 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or distribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE. This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.No-flow underfill technology shows potential advances over the conventional underfill technology toward a low-cost flop-chip underfill process. However, due to the filler entrapment in between solder bumps and contact pads on board, no-flow underfills are mostly unfilled or filled with very low filler loading. The high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the polymer material has significantly lowered the reliability of flip chip assembly and has limited its application to large chip assemblies. This paper presents a double-layer no-flow underfill process approach to incorporate silica filler into a no-flow underfill. Two layers of underfills are applied on to the substrate before chip placement. The bottom underfill layer facing the substrate is fluxed and unfilled; the upper layer facing the chip is filled with silica fillers. The total filler loading of the mixture is estimated to be around 55 wt%. The material properties of each layer of underfills, the underfill mixture, and a control unfilled underfill are characterized using differential scanning calorimeter (DCS), thermo-mechanical analyzer (TMA), dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA), and a stress rheometer. FB250 daisy-chained test chips are assembled on FR-4 boards using the novel approach. A 100% assembly yield of solder Interconnect is achieved with the double-layer no-flow underfill while in the single-layer no-flow underfill process, no solder joint yield is observed. Scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and optical microscope are used to investigate the cross-section of both assemblies. A US provisional patent has been filed for this invention
Channel Characterization for Chip-scale Wireless Communications within Computing Packages
Wireless Network-on-Chip (WNoC) appears as a promising alternative to
conventional interconnect fabrics for chip-scale communications. WNoC takes
advantage of an overlaid network composed by a set of millimeter-wave antennas
to reduce latency and increase throughput in the communication between cores.
Similarly, wireless inter-chip communication has been also proposed to improve
the information transfer between processors, memory, and accelerators in
multi-chip settings. However, the wireless channel remains largely unknown in
both scenarios, especially in the presence of realistic chip packages. This
work addresses the issue by accurately modeling flip-chip packages and
investigating the propagation both its interior and its surroundings. Through
parametric studies, package configurations that minimize path loss are obtained
and the trade-offs observed when applying such optimizations are discussed.
Single-chip and multi-chip architectures are compared in terms of the path loss
exponent, confirming that the amount of bulk silicon found in the pathway
between transmitter and receiver is the main determinant of losses.Comment: To be presented 12th IEEE/ACM International Symposium on
Networks-on-Chip (NOCS 2018); Torino, Italy; October 201
Numerical analysis of lead-free solder joints: effects of thermal cycling and electromigration
To meet the requirements of miniaturization and multifunction in microelectronics, understanding of their reliability and performance has become an important research subject in order to characterise electronics served under various loadings. Along with the demands of the increasing miniaturization of electronic devices, various properties and the relevant thermo-mechanical-electrical response of the lead-free solder joints to thermal cycling and electro-migration become the critical factors, which affect the service life of microelectronics in different applications. However, due to the size and structure of solder interconnects in microelectronics, traditional methods based on experiments are not applicable in the evaluation of their reliability under complex joint loadings. This thesis presents an investigation, which is based on finite-element method, into the performance of lead-free solder interconnects under thermal fatigue and electro-migration, specifically in the areas as follows: (1) the investigation of thermal-mechanical performance and fatigue-life prediction of flip-chip package under different sizes to achieve a further understanding of IMC layer and size effects of a flip chip package under thermal cycling; (2) the establishment of a numerical method, simulating void-formation/crack-propagation based on the results of finite-element analysis, to allow the prediction of crack evolution and failure time for electro-migration reliability of solder bumps; (3) the establishment of a flow-based algorithm for combination effects of thermal-mechanical and electro-migration that was subsequent implemented in to an FE model to evaluate the reliability assessment of service lives associated with a flip chip package
Modeling with structure of resins in electonic compornents
In recent years, interfacial fracture becomes one of the most important
problems in the assessment of reliability of electronics packaging. Especially,
underfill resin is used with solder joints in flip chip packaging for
preventing the thermal fatigue fracture in solder joints. In general, the
interfacial strength has been evaluated on the basis of interfacial fracture
mechanics concept. However, as the size of devices decrease, it is difficult to
evaluate the interfacial strength quantitatively. Most of researches in the
interfacial fracture were conducted on the basis of the assumption of the
perfectly bonding condition though the interface has the micro-scale structure
and the bonding is often imperfect. In this study, the mechanical model of the
interfacial structure of resin in electronic components was proposed.
Bimaterial model with the imperfect bonding condition was examined by using a
finite element analysis (FEA). Stress field in the vicinity of interface
depends on the interfacial structure with the imperfect bonding. In the front
of interfacial crack tip, the behavior of process zone is affected by
interfacial structure. However, the instability of fracture for macroscopic
crack which means the fracture toughness is governed by the stress intensity
factor based on the fracture mechanics concept.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions
(http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions
Demonstration of fine pitch FCOB (Flip Chip on Board) assembly based on solder bumps at Fermilab
Bump bonding is a superior assembly alternative compared to conventional wire
bond techniques. It offers a highly reliable connection with greatly reduced
parasitic properties. The Flip Chip on Board (FCOB) procedure is an especially
attractive packaging method for applications requiring a large number of
connections at moderate pitch. This paper reports on the successful
demonstration of FCOB assembly based on solder bumps down to 250um pitch using
a SUESS MA8 flip chip bonder at Fermilab. The assembly procedure will be
described, microscopic cross sections of the connections are shown, and first
measurements on the contact resistance are presented.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure
End-of-Life and Constant Rate Reliability Modeling for Semiconductor Packages Using Knowledge-Based Test Approaches
End-of-life and constant rate reliability modeling for semiconductor packages are the focuses of this dissertation. Knowledge-based testing approaches are applied and the test-to-failure approach is approved to be a reliable approach. First of all, the end-of-life AF models for solder joint reliability are studied. The research results show using one universal AF model for all packages is flawed approach. An assessment matrix is generated to guide the application of AF models. The AF models chosen should be either assessed based on available data or validated through accelerated stress tests. A common model can be applied if the packages have similar structures and materials. The studies show that different AF models will be required for SnPb solder joints and SAC lead-free solder joints. Second, solder bumps under power cycling conditions are found to follow constant rate reliability models due to variations of the operating conditions. Case studies demonstrate that a constant rate reliability model is appropriate to describe non solder joint related semiconductor package failures as well. Third, the dissertation describes the rate models using Chi-square approach cannot correlate well with the expected failure mechanisms in field applications. The estimation of the upper bound using a Chi-square value from zero failure is flawed. The dissertation emphasizes that the failure data is required for the failure rate estimation. A simple but tighter approach is proposed and provides much tighter bounds in comparison of other approaches available. Last, the reliability of solder bumps in flip chip packages under power cycling conditions is studied. The bump materials and underfill materials will significantly influence the reliability of the solder bumps. A set of comparable bump materials and the underfill materials will dramatically improve the end-of-life solder bumps under power cycling loads, and bump materials are one of the most significant factors. Comparing to the field failure data obtained, the end-of-life model does not predict the failures in the field, which is more close to an approximately constant failure rate. In addition, the studies find an improper underfill material could change the failure location from solder bump cracking to ILD cracking or BGA solder joint failures
Ultra thin ultrafine-pitch chip-package interconnections for embedded chip last approach
Ever growing demands for portability and functionality have always governed the electronic technology innovations. IC downscaling with Moore s law and system miniaturization with System-On-Package (SOP) paradigm has resulted and will continue to result in ultraminiaturized systems with unprecedented functionality at reduced cost. The trend towards 3D silicon system integration is expected to downscale IC I/O pad pitches from 40µm to 1- 5 µm in future. Device- to- system board interconnections are typically accomplished today with either wire bonding or solders. Both of these are incremental and run into either electrical or mechanical barriers as they are extended to higher density of interconnections. Alternate interconnection approaches such as compliant interconnects typically require lengthy connections and are therefore limited in terms of electrical properties, although expected to meet the mechanical requirements. As supply currents will increase upto 220 A by 2012, the current density will exceed the maximum allowable current density of solders. The intrinsic delay and electromigration in solders are other daunting issues that become critical at nanometer size technology nodes. In addition, formation of intermetallics is also a bottleneck that poses significant mechanical issues.
Recently, many research groups have investigated various techniques for copper-copper direct bonding. Typically, bonding is carried out at 400oC for 30 min followed by annealing for 30 min. High thermal budget in such process makes it less attractive for integrated systems because of the associated process incompatibilities. In the present study, copper-copper bonding at ultra fine-pitch using advanced nano-conductive and non-conductive adhesives is evaluated. The proposed copper-copper based interconnects using advanced conductive and non-conductive adhesives will be a new fundamental and comprehensive paradigm to solve all the four barriers: 1) I/O pitch 2) Electrical performance 3) Reliability and 4) Cost. This thesis investigates the mechanical integrity and reliability of copper-copper bonding using advanced adhesives through test vehicle fabrication and reliability testing. Test vehicles were fabricated using low cost electro-deposition techniques and assembled onto glass carrier. Experimental results show that proposed copper-copper bonding using advanced adhesives could potentially meet all the system performance requirements for the emerging micro/nano-systems.M.S.Committee Chair: Prof. Rao R Tummala; Committee Member: Dr. Jack Moon; Committee Member: Dr. P M Ra
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