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Adhesives feature two-fold improvement in curing rates, ability to
withstand rework
Midland, Mich. – June 28, 2007 – Dow Corning Corp. today introduced two new
members of its family of lid-seal materials for flip-chip semiconductor
packages. One offers a two-fold improvement in cure rate, and another is
specifically formulated for the high temperatures that lead-free assemblies
must endure during rework. The DOW CORNING® EA-6800 and the EA-6900
Microelectronic Adhesives follow the low voiding EA-6700 adhesive introduced
last year. Both materials have been evaluated and qualified for production use
by leading manufacturers, including Amkor Technology, Inc.
Lids, also referred to as heatspreaders, are integral to the production of
flip-chip devices, a fast-growing segment of the IC packaging market. Lid-seal
adhesives must withstand high humidity, temperature cycling and extreme
operating conditions. These adhesives also must withstand higher processing
temperatures associated with lead-free BGA attach and MSL testing, due to new
Restriction of Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations.
All of Dow Corning’s lid-seal adhesives are RoHS compliant, and both the
EA-6800 and EA-6900 offer the excellent high-temperature performance that is
necessary in processing lead-free assemblies. The EA-6900 Microelectronic
Adhesive is particularly attractive for lead-free applications because it is
specially formulated to withstand repeated exposures to the high processing
temperatures associated with the rework of lead-free electronic components
during board assembly.
As for the EA-6800, it is Dow Corning’s first microelectronic adhesive
formulated for fast curing. It cures in approximately 15 minutes, compared to
the typical one hour required for other adhesives, with no loss of performance,
thus offering better throughput and consequently lower cost.
“Our goal at Dow Corning is to have a complete product line to serve a
variety of needs, and that’s why we’re expanding our offerings of
Microelectronic Adhesives,” said George Toskey, electronics assembly marketing
manager for Dow Corning. “We’re focusing on customer needs and requests, and
that’s what drove the development of the EA-6800 and the EA-6900.”
Both the EA-6800 and the EA-6900 are available now in production quantities.
Like Dow Corning’s other adhesive offerings, both have been thoroughly tested
at customer sites. The EA-6800 has been evaluated and accepted by a leading
chip manufacturer and the EA-6900 has been qualified by Amkor Technology.
Based on proprietary technology, like their predecessors, the EA-6800 and
the EA-6900 adhesive formulas feature reduced voiding from residual moisture
within substrates, which leads to improved adhesion to ceramic and organic
substrates. The adhesives also maintain a low modulus, a key quality that
allows both to absorb thermomechancial stress when used between two materials
(such as laminate substrates and nickel-plated copper lids) with differing
thermal expansion coefficients. These features make the EA-6800 and the EA-6900
ideal for high-performance devices that employ flip-chip technology.
Flip-chip is one of the high-growth technologies in semiconductor packaging.
It is an increasingly popular technique in which the chip is placed face down
and its bond pads directly connected to the substrate with metal studs or
solder, thereby eliminating wire-bonding. The market for flip-chip applications
is poised to expand from 785 million units in 2006 to 1.74 billion units in
2011, according to market research firm Prismark.
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