Mechanical strength of joints based on nano-Ag sintering phenomena

Thermal Interface Materials are used in microelectronic packaging for reducing so called thermal resistance between heat source and heat sink. They are commonly used, often in form of thermally conductive adhesives, as an attaching materials for fixing silicon chips in the integrated circuits. Therefore, beside the thermal properties, a good mechanical strength of TIMs is required. Within this paper the shear strength of few different sintered nanoAg-based pastes used as TIM is examined.