Thermochimica Acta, Vol.367-368, 169-175, 2001
An alternative method to the curing study of polymeric die attach adhesives using dynamic mechanical analysis
This paper introduces an alternative way to the curing investigations of polymeric die attach adhesives using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Proper curing of die attach adhesives is essential to provide adhesive strength and reliability of adhesive bonding between Si die and paddle in the microelectronic industry. The extent of cure of polymeric adhesives is typically studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) which is a measure of exothermic heat generated during curing reaction. Nevertheless, mechanical properties of polymeric die attach adhesives are strongly related to the extent of cure on the manufacturing process in die attachment. Therefore, DMA was explored to the curing study of die attach adhesives. Materials for this study were: (a) raw die attach, and (b) prepared by curing raw die attach at schedules of 140, 155, 170, 185 and 200 degreesC from 0 to 10 h in air. Viscoelastic properties of raw and cured adhesives over temperature at fixed oscillatory frequency were then investigated with 3-point bending mode of DMA. All specimens were heated and then followed by cooling and again reheating at a rate of 5 degreesC/min under helium gas environment. Their storage moduli (El drop in the orders of magnitude or phase angle (delta) change at temperature sweep addressed the transitions from glassy to rubbery state of the materials. Glass transition temperature (T-g) of the reheating process is higher than first heating from DMA studies, and it was noticed that this T-g difference of die attach adhesives was reduced while they were cured from low to high temperature and short to long duration. The extent of curing reaction of die attach adhesives was therefore determined by their T-g difference comparison of the DMA first heating and reheating processes with the raw specimen.