Abstract
Cu particle-containing In-matrix composites for thermal interface material (TIM) applications were prepared via liquid phase sintering, following chemical modification of the Cu–In interfaces. The optimized composite TIM possessed 1.5 times the thermal conductivity, and twice the yield strength, of pure In. Joints of the composite TIM between pairs of cylindrical Cu rods were used to measure shear behavior and thermal resistance as functions of three parameters: (i) joint thickness, (ii) thermal excursion history, and (iii) type of interfacial layers between Cu and In. The composite joints showed good shear compliance, with a shear yield strength of 2.7 MPa, as well as substantially lower joint thermal resistance (0.021 cm2 K W−1) than pure In joints, which are commercially used in high-end TIM applications. The thermal resistance of the joints was found to be a sensitive function of the interfacial contact resistance between the Cu particles and In within the TIM, as well as between the TIM and the Cu substrates. The TIM–substrate interfaces, in particular, play an increasingly important role as the joint becomes thinner, limiting the joint thermal resistance. To reduce the interfacial contact resistance, a diffusion barrier of 1–2-nm-thick Al2O3 was applied by atomic layer deposition on both the Cu particles and the Cu substrates, followed by a 20-nm-thick Au layer, which served as a wetting enhancer. The engineered interfaces also improved the stability of the composite TIM joints under aging conditions.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Equivalent uniaxial strain rate is equal to \( \dot{\varepsilon}=\dot{\delta}/\varPhi \), where \( \dot{\delta} \) is the displacement rate of the punch and \( \varPhi \) is the punch diameter [16].
References
J Liu, P Rottmann, S Dutta, et al. (2009) Next generation materials for thermal interface and high density energy storage applications via liquid phase sintering. In: Proceedings of the 12th Electronics Packaging Technology Conference (EPTC), p 506
P Kumar, I Dutta, R Raj, M Renavikar, W V (2008) Novel Liquid Phase Sintered Solders with Indium as Minority Phase for Next Generation Thermal Interface Materials Applications. In: Procedding of Conference on Thermal Issues in Emerging Technologies (ThETA 2), p 339
Dutta I, Raj R, Kumar P et al (2009) Liquid phase sintered solders with indium as minority phase for next generation thermal interface material applications. J Electron Mater 38:2735
Every AG, Tzou Y, Hasselman DPH, Raj R (1992) The effect of particle size on the thermal conductivity of ZnS/diamond composites. Acta Metall Mater 40:123
Liu J, Kumar P, Dutta I et al (2011) Liquid phase sintered Cu–In composite solders for thermal interface material and interconnect applications. J Mater Sci 46:7012. doi:10.1007/s10853-011-5670-x
Narciso J, García-Cordovilla C, Louis E (1992) Reactivity of thermally oxidized and unoxidized SiC particulates with aluminium-silicon alloys. Mater Sci Eng B 15:148
Rajan TPD, Pillai RM, Pai BC (1998) Reinforcement coatings and interfaces in aluminium metal matrix composites. J Mater Sci 33:3491
Suery M, Lesperance G, Hong BD, Thanh LN, Bordeaux F (1993) Development of particulate treatments and coatings to reduce SiC degradation by liquid aluminum. J Mater Eng Perform 2:365
Lloyd DJ (1994) Particle reinforced aluminium and magnesium matrix composites. Int Mater Rev 39:1
Elers KE, Saanila V, Soininen PJ et al (2002) Diffusion barrier deposition on a copper surface by atomic layer deposition. Chem Vap Depos 8:149
Shen S, Liu Y, Gordon RG, Brillson LJ (2011) Impact of ultrathin Al2O3 diffusion barriers on defects in high-k LaLuO3 on Si. Appl Phys Lett 98(17):172902
Kim DG, Yoon JW, Lee CY, Jung SB (2003) Reaction diffusion and formation of Cu11In9 and In27Ni10 phases in the couple of indium-substrates. Mater Trans 44:72
Sankarana K, Gouxa L, Climaa S et al (2012) Modeling of copper diffusion in amorphous aluminum oxide in CBRAM memory stack. ECS Trans 45:317
Wank JR, George SM, Weimer AW (2004) Coating fine nickel particles with Al2O3 utilizing an atomic layer deposition-fluidized bed reactor (ALD–FBR). J Am Ceram Soc 87:762
Chang ML, Cheng TC, Lin MC, Lin HC, Chen MJ (2012) Improvement of oxidation resistance of copper by atomic layer deposition. Appl Surf Sci 258:10128
Pan D, Marks RA, Dutta I, Mahajan R, Jadhav SG (2004) Miniaturized impression creep testing of ball grid array solder balls attached to microelectronic packaging substrates. Rev Sci Instrum 75:5244
Oberdorfer C, Schmitz G (2011) On the field evaporation behavior of dielectric materials in three-dimensional atom probe: a numeric simulation. Microsc Microanal 17:15
JR Culham, P Teertstra, I Savija, MM Yovanovich (2002) The eighth intersociety conference on thermal and thermomechanical phenomena in electronic systems, ITHERM 2002, San Diego, CA, USA
Z Kai, Z Xinfeng, C Zhibo, et al. (2013) 14th international conference on thermal, mechanical and multi-physics simulation and experiments in microelectronics and microsystems (EuroSimE)
P Teertstra (2007) ASME 2007 InterPACK conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
J Liu (2013) Materials Science and Engineering ProgramWashington State University
Kline SJ, McClintock FA (1953) Describing Uncertainties in Single-Sample Experiments. Mechanical Engineering 75:3
Thompson DR, Rao SR, Cola BA (2013) A stepped-bar apparatus for thermal resistance measurements. J Electron Packag 135:041002
Liu YM, Chuang TH (2000) Interfacial reactions between liquid indium and Au-deposited substrates. J Electron Mater 29:405
Yu CL, Wang SS, Chuang TH (2002) Intermetallic compounds formed at the interface between liquid indium and copper substrates. J Electron Mater 31:488
Material Properties Data: Alumina (Aluminum Oxide), http://www.makeitfrom.com/material-data/?for=Alumina-Aluminum-Oxide-Al2O3
Cahill DG, Goodson KE, Majumdar A (2002) Thermometry and thermal transport in micro/nanoscale solid-state devices and structures. J Heat Trans-T Asme 124:223
Kim EK, Kwun SI, Lee SM, Seo H, Yoon JG (2000) Thermal boundary resistance at Ge2Sb2Te5/ZnS : SiO2 interface. Appl Phys Lett 76:3864
Lee SM, Cahill DG (1997) Heat transport in thin dielectric films. J Appl Phys 81:2590
Yang H-S, Bai GR, Thompson LJ, Eastman JA (2002) Interfacial thermal resistance in nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia. Acta Mater 50:2309
Hartman TE, Chivian JS (1964) Electron tunneling through thin aluminum oxide films. Phys Rev 134:A1094
K Vijay (2011) 18th European microelectronics and packaging conference (EMPC), Brighton, UK
Kumar P, Awasthi S (2014) Mechanical and thermal modeling of In-Cu composites for thermal interface materials applications. J Compos Mater 48:1391–1398
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by a Grant from INTEL Corporation through the Strategic Research Segment (SRS) program. Partial support from NSF-CMMI-0709506 and NSF-DMR-0939392 is also acknowledged. The authors also acknowledge Dr. Theva Thevuthasan for facilitating the SIMS and XRD work at EMSL, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, J., Sahaym, U., Dutta, I. et al. Interfacially engineered liquid-phase-sintered Cu–In composite solders for thermal interface material applications. J Mater Sci 49, 7844–7854 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8495-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8495-6