A halogen-free epoxy with intrinsic flame retardance for use in electronic packaging

Abstract

Typical epoxy-based electronic packaging materials necessitate substantial inclusion of flame retardant additives in order to satisfy regulatory requirements regarding flammability, usually evaluated by the UL-94 flammability test. Conventional additives such as encapsulated red phosphorus may pose a reliability issue under high humidity environment due to its hygroscopic nature, leading to electrical shorts caused by electrochemical migration. A non-halogenated epoxy based on the Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) structure possess inherent flame retardance and excellent high temperature properties. This study investigate the feasibility of utilizing POSS-based epoxy to replace conventional epoxies as an intrinsically flame retardant electronic packaging materials with enhanced reliability.