Near Void-Free Assembly Development of Flip Chip Using No-Flow Underfill

The advanced flip-chip-in-package (FCIP) process technology, using no-flow underfill material for high I/O density (over 3000 I/O) and fine-pitch (down to 150 mum) interconnect applications, presents challenges for flip chip processing because underfill void formation during reflow drives interconnect yield down and degrades reliability. In spite of such challenges, a high yield, reliable assembly process (>99.99%) has been achieved using commercial no-flow underfill material with a high I/O, fine-pitch FCIP. This has been obtained using design of experiments with physical interpretation techniques. Statistical analysis determined what assembly conditions should be used in order to achieve robust interconnects without disrupting the FCIP interconnect structure. However, the resulting high yield process had the side effect of causing a large number of voids in the FCIP assemblies. Parametric studies were conducted to develop assembly process conditions that would minimize the number of voids in the FCIP induced by thermal effects. This work has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of underfill voids. This paper presents systematic studies into yield characterization, void formation characterization, and void reduction through the use of structured experimentation which was designed to improve assembly yield and to minimize the number of voids, respectively, in FCIP assemblies.