Method for electrical coupling and electric coupling arrangement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10833049-B2
Application number	US-201816193709-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2018
Priority date	May 26, 2015
Publication date	Nov 10, 2020
Grant date	Nov 10, 2020

Abstract

A method for electrically coupling a pad and a front face of a pillar, including shaping the front face pillar, the front face having at least partially a convex surface, applying a suspension to the front face or to the pad, wherein the suspension includes a carrier fluid, electrically conducting microparticles and electrically conducting nanoparticles, arranging the front face of the pillar opposite to the pad at a distance such that the carrier fluid bridges at least partially a gap between the front face of the pillar and the pad, evaporating the carrier fluid thereby confining the microparticles and the nanoparticles, and thereby arranging the nanoparticles and the microparticles as percolation paths between the front face of the pillar and the pad, and sintering the arranged nanoparticles for forming metallic bonds at least between the nanoparticles and/or between the nanoparticles and the front face of the pillar or the pad.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A coupling arrangement, comprising:
an electrically conducting pad having a flat surface, an electrically conducting pillar having a front face with a convex curvature, a central region of the convex curvature vertically aligned with the electrically conducting pad, and an electrically conducting connection structure arranged between the flat surface of the pad and the front face of the pillar, wherein the connection structure comprises:
a plurality of microparticles and a plurality of nanoparticles, the plurality of microparticles and the plurality of nanoparticles being arranged as percolation paths that form the electrically conducting connection structure along an axis extending vertically between the central region of the front face with the convex curvature of the pillar and the pad with pores between the percolation paths, wherein metallic bonds are formed between the plurality of nanoparticles or between the plurality of nanoparticles and the front face of the pillar or the pad.

2. The coupling arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the connection structure is a porous structure having pores formed by void regions between percolated nanoparticles and microparticles.

3. The coupling arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the pad, the pillar, the microparticles, and the nanoparticles include a same material.

4. The coupling arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the connection structure has an axis running from the pad to the front surface, wherein a cross-sectional span of the connection structure perpendicular to the axis varies along the axis, and has a decreased distance between the front surface of the pillar and the pad relative to a cross-sectional distance perpendicular to the axis at the front surface of at least one of the pillar and the pad.

5. The coupling arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the front face of the pillar is dome-shaped.

6. The coupling arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the pillar has a cylindrical shape.

7. The coupling arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the microparticles have a microparticle size and the nanoparticles have a nanoparticle size such that the microparticle size is at least ten times larger than the nanoparticle size.

8. A coupling arrangement, comprising:
an electrically conducting pad having a flat surface;
an electrically conducting pillar having a front face with a convex curvature, a central region of the convex curvature vertically aligned with the electrically conducting pad; and
an electrically conducting connection structure arranged between the flat surface of the pad and the front face with convex curvature of the pillar, wherein the connection structure includes a plurality of microparticles and a plurality of nanoparticles bonded together and arranged as percolation paths that form the electrically conducting connection structure along an axis extending vertically between the central region of the front face with the convex curvature of the pillar and the pad with pores between the percolation paths such that the electrically conducting connection structure remains intact in response to shearing forces resulting from a difference between thermal extension coefficients at the pad and at the pillar based on a ratio selected between the nanoparticles and microparticles.

9. The coupling arrangement of claim 8 , wherein the pad, the pillar, the microparticles, and the nanoparticles include a same material.

10. The coupling arrangement of claim 8 , wherein the pad comprises a pad material, the pillar comprises a pillar material, the microparticles comprise a microparticle material, and the nanoparticles comprise a nanoparticle material, wherein the pad material, the pillar material, the nanoparticle material and the microparticle material include Copper.

11. The coupling arrangement of claim 8 , wherein the pad, the pillar, the microparticles, and the nanoparticles include a same material.

12. The coupling arrangement of claim 8 , wherein the connection structure has an axis running from the pad to the front surface, wherein a cross-sectional span of the connection structure perpendicular to the axis varies along the axis, and has a decreased distance between the front surface of the pillar and the pad relative to a cross-sectional distance perpendicular to the axis at the front surface of at least one of the pillar and the pad.

13. The coupling arrangement of claim 8 , wherein the pillar has a cylindrical shape.

14. The coupling arrangement of claim 8 , wherein the microparticles have a microparticle size and the nanoparticles have a nanoparticle size, and a ratio between the microparticle size and the nanoparticle size is chosen such that during evaporating of a carrier liquid, the nanoparticles enter void regions between percolated microparticles.

15. The coupling arrangement of claim 14 , wherein the microparticle size is at least ten times larger than the nanoparticle size.

16. The coupling arrangement of claim 8 , wherein a volume ratio between the nanoparticles and the microparticles is between ten and one hundred.

17. The coupling arrangement of claim 8 , wherein the front face of the pillar includes a dome-shaped front surface.

18. The coupling arrangement of claim 8 , wherein the microparticles and the nanoparticles are bonded together by metallic bonds between the microparticles, the nanoparticles, the conducting pad and the conducting pillar.

19. The coupling arrangement of claim 18 , wherein the metallic bonds include sintered bonds performed at a temperature lower than a melting temperature of the nanoparticles and the microparticles.

20. The coupling arrangement of claim 8 , further comprising:
a plurality of pads arranged as an array; and
a plurality of pillars arranged as an array such that the plurality of pillars correspond to each of the plurality of pads.

Assignees

• IBM
• Ncc Nano Llc
• Univ Chemnitz Tech
• Sintef

Inventors

• Brunschwiler Thomas J
• Dixon Richard
• Visser Taklo Maaike M
• Wunderle Bernhard
• Yu Kerry
• Zuercher Jonas

Classifications

• H10W72/241

  Dispositions, e.g. layouts · CPC title

• H10W90/724

  between a chip and a stacked insulating package substrate, interposer or RDL · CPC title

• H10W72/07253

  changes in shapes · CPC title

• H10W72/253

  not comprising solid metals or solid metalloids, e.g. polymers or ceramics · CPC title

• H10W72/225

  Bumps having a filler embedded in a matrix · CPC title