Effect of epoxy content in Ag nanoparticle paste on the bonding strength of MLCC packages

Ag particles have been attractive candidates for highly reliable interconnections in electronic packages due to an absence of IMCs, high melting temperature, and high electrical and thermal conductivity. We fabricated various Ag-nanoparticle (NP) pastes containing different epoxy/binder percent weight (epoxy: 4.5, 9.0, 13.5, and 18 wt %) to investigate the effect on the bonding strength and electrical performance of multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) components. MLCC joints were obtained by stencil printing Ag NP pastes on an Al2O3 substrate with Cu electrodes followed by pressureless bonding at 250 degrees C for 15 min. When using Ag NP pastes containing higher epoxy compositions, more residues were identified while the other organic additives, such as the binder and dispersant, were removed by debinding during the bonding process. The Ag NP-18 wt% epoxy paste showed bonding strength approximately 8.6 times that of the paste containing 4.5 wt% epoxy. However, the electrical resistivity of MLCC components of 18 wt% epoxy paste showed an electrical resistance of 3.5 Omega, which was about 1.8 times that with the 4.5 wt% epoxy paste. We designed Ag NP pastes with varying epoxy ratio, and studied their chemical, bonding, and electrical characteristics for the development of advanced interconnection.