Characterization of pressure-less Ag sintering on Ni/Au surface

Ag sintering has been widely studied as a lead-free die attach solution for power electronics. A soak time of a dozen minutes at the sintering temperature is necessary to establish strong bond strength by the conventional heating method. Chemical bonding can be achieved by various parameters associated with the metallurgical bond of the adjacent surfaces. In this study, attaching technology between Au coated Si die and Au coated Si substrate was developed by applying Ag sintering materials which can work at temperature up to 350°C. It was concentrated on finding so called "pressure-less sintering and pressure sintering" procedure in air and N2 environment. The sintering was performed in air or N2 at temperature range from 180°C to 280°C for 10 minutes to 3 hours. Highest shear strength was obtained at 200°C of sintering temperature bonded for 3 hours.