Biocompatibility Testing of Liquid Metal as an Interconnection Material for Flexible Implant Technology

Galinstan, a liquid metal at room temperature, is a promising material for use in flexible electronics. Since it has been successfully integrated in devices for external use, e.g., as stretchable electronic skin in tactile sensation, the possibility of using galinstan for flexible implant technology comes to mind. Usage of liquid metals in a flexible implant would reduce the risk of broken conductive pathways in the implants and therefore reduce the possibility of implant failure. However, the biocompatibility of the liquid metal under study, i.e., galinstan, has not been proven in state-of-the-art literature. Therefore, in this paper, a material combination of galinstan and silicone rubber is under investigation regarding the success of sterilization methods and to establish biocompatibility testing for an in vivo application. First cell biocompatibility tests (WST-1 assays) and cell toxicity tests (LDH assays) show promising results regarding biocompatibility. This work paves the way towards the successful integration of stretchable devices using liquid metals embedded in a silicone rubber encapsulant for flexible surface electro-cortical grid arrays and other flexible implants.

Tuning the Electrical Resistivity of Conductive Silver Paste Prepared by Blending Multi-Morphologies and Micro-Nanometers Silver Powder

As an important interconnection material in electronics, conductive silver paste has attract much research interest in chip packaging and printed circuit board due to its predominant properties like high conductivity and flexible interconnection. In this paper, the silver nanoparticles, the silver sphere particles and flake silver powder are fabricated by various methods. Different proportions of silver powder are selected to prepare micro-silver paste and mn silver paste (fabricated by silver nanoparticles : sphere particles : flake silver powder=1:1:1). Compared to traditional silver paste (containing 80wt% silver), the electrical resistivity of micro-silver paste containing 66.67wt% silver and cured at 200℃ for 45min in air is about (3.31±0.73)×10-5Ω·cm when the ratio of sphere particle to flake silver powder is 1:1, the resistance of silver paste doesn’t also increase dramatically after bending ten times. The addition of nano-silver particles can reduce the resistivity in lower temperature curing. The folding endurance of mn silver paste is comparable to that of micro-silver paste with sphere : flake=1:1.

ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE MANAGERIAL PROCESS IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Introduction. The article discusses the most pressing scientific issues, basic economic laws and concepts that affect the process of management and motivation of hired personnel, based on the position of increasing the efficiency of agricultural enterprises functioning. Results. In modern conditions, interests between the actual owners of enterprises and operating personnel have sharpened. The first strive to maximize profits. To do this, they use official, and mainly shadow income. In the second category, they apply simple management methods (dismissal from work, violation of labor laws, payment of salaries in envelopes, etc.). In this situation, it is necessary to clearly monitor the actions of the owners. It is advisable to assign this function to the personnel of the enterprise and trade union bodies. Conclusions. The relationship process of the concepts of expanded market production, distribution by labor and the cost of agricultural products, as well as labor prices is considered. The article proves that the interconnection of the concepts of value and labor regulation is reduced to free pricing and acceleration of the cash flow rate. Effective organization of the personnel management process reduces the cost of production and products sales and, automatically, increases the income of the owner. Therefore, it becomes possible to form motivation funds and accrue dividends. In the article, the authors substantiate the opinion that the interaction level of the concept of distribution according to work and the law of value is due to their essence and manifestation form in specific economic reality. The distribution process can be based on a specific or abstract work, as well as their combination. There is no consensus among economists on this issue. Key words: economic laws, concepts, industrial enterprises, factors, interconnection, material motivation, employees, employees, management.

Recent Advances in X-ray for Semicon Applications

Taking x-ray images goes back over 100 years. Since then, there have been numerous advances in x-ray technology and these have been increasingly applied in helping the manufacturing of electronic components and assemblies, as well as in their failure analysis. Most recently, this has been rapidly driven by the reduction in device and feature size and the movement to using newer, lower density materials within the structures, such as copper wire replacing gold wire as the interconnection material of choice within components. Another driver for developments is the engineering of single 3D packages with multiple chips stacked vertically one on top of the other, which results in smaller and more efficient packaging of devices. In order to meet these challenges and those in the future, there have been a number of recent key improvements to the vital components within x-ray systems. The choice of available technologies, however, means selecting the tube/detector combination, which is optimum for a particular electronics inspection application, is no longer so clear-cut. For example, one configuration may provide certain benefits that are applicable for one area of electronics inspection, whilst being less valid for others. This paper will review the various x-ray tube and detector types that are available and explain the implications of these choices for electronics inspection in terms of what they provide for inspection regarding image resolution, magnification, tube power, detector pixel size and the effects of detector radiation damage, amongst others. This paper will also look in detail at the capabilities of high end CT systems to inspect wafer bumps, copper pillars and TSV's, new designs are reducing key dimensions of all of these interconnections challenging x-ray systems to produce clear images.

Wetting Kinetics and Joint Strength of Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu Lead-Free Solder Alloy on Copper Substrate as a Function of Reflow Time

Solder plays a vital role in the interconnection of electronic devices in electronic assemblies. As an interconnection material, the solder joint executes electrical, mechanical and thermal functions. The use of lead bearing solders in electronic products is banned due to the toxicity and environmental risks coupled with lead. In the present study, wetting kinetics, interfacial reactions and the formation of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) during solidification of Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu solder alloy on Cu substrate and the corresponding joint strength were studied as a function of reflow time. Experiments were carried out at various reflow times of 10, 100, 300 and 500s. The reflow temperature was maintained at 270°C. The solder alloy showed enhanced wettability on the substrate at longer reflow times. The thickness of IMC layer formed during a reflow time of 10s was 1.67μm and the thickness increased to 2.20μm, 2.85μm, 2.91μm during 100s, 300s and 500s of reflow time respectively. The joint shear test was performed to assess the integrity of Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu solder solidified on Cu substrates using Nordson DAGE 4000 Plus bond tester. The joint strength increased with the increase in reflow time up to 300s and the maximum joint strength was observed for samples reflowed for 300s. Although the samples reflowed for 500s samples showed good wettability, they exhibited lowest joint strength.

Silver Metallization on Porosified LTCC Deposited by Pulse Plating Technique

Present microelectronic devices especially when including high frequency applications are in need of highly integrated metallization technologies. Silver is considered as a future interconnection material for such devices and systems due to its low bulk resistivity of about 1.6 μΩ·cm at 20°C. Conventional thick film metallization techniques on low temperature co-fired ceramics such as screen printing are only partly capable of meeting the requirements in terms of lateral resolution and precision. Furthermore, on advanced surfaces such as porosified composite LTCC, also thin film metallization techniques (e.g. sputtering) meet their limits due to a poor coverage and hence, a low electrical conductivity. In this study, it is shown, that bipolar pulse plating of silver is capable of bridging the pores of the surface of the porosified substrate without penetrating them. The plated metallizations feature very fine grains with an average diameter of approx. 90 nm and a maximum up to 250 nm. The film resistivity being measured directly during annealing decreases at elevated temperatures above 90°C in air. Compared to the bulk value, the film resistivity of the ‘as deposited’ electroplated silver is increased, but can be improved down to 2 μΩ·cm with a TCR of 4.1·10−3 K−1 at 20°C by a subsequent annealing treatment at 500°C for 5 h in air. Since there is no measureable difference in resistivity between the galvanic silver deposited on non-porosified or porosified LTCC detected, the findings qualify the bipolar pulsed silver plating as an excellent choice for metalizing porosified LTCC substrates.

Low-Temperature Sintering of Nanosilver Paste on a Gold Film Surface

Nanosilver paste with a low sintering temperature is a high-demand interconnection material for electronic devices and components due to its superior electrical, thermal, and thermomechanical properties, as well as the fact that it is lead free. This study presents a nanoscale silver paste that can be sintered at 300 °C using 60-nm silver particles and an ethyl cellulose solution. The rheological and thixotropic behaviors of the typical paste were characterized, and the paste's screen printing ability was analyzed in detail. The paste demonstrates typical shear thinning rheological behavior and thixotropy of pseudoplastic fluids. Thermal characteristics of the 60 nm silver particles were measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to obtain a proper sintering temperature schedule. In this report, we also discussed the solid content, thermodynamic driving force for densification, and sintering process of the nanosilver particles. A 83 wt% of silver solid content at a heating rate of 20 °C/min was favorable for achieving a proper sintering densification.

Improvement of Mechanical Reliability of 3D Electronic Packaging by Controlling the Mechanical Properties of Electroplated Materials

Three-dimensional (3D) integration of silicon microelectronic devices improves the electronic functions of devices and minimizes packaging density drastically. A through-silicon via (TSV) structure is indispensable for maximizing the density of interconnections among the stacked silicon chips. However, since the TSV structure is surrounded by silicon, and there is large mismatch in materials properties between metallic materials used for the TSV structure and silicon, thermal stress is essentially generated around the TSV structure during their fabrication process and operating conditions. Recently, electroplated copper thin films have started to be applied to the interconnection material in the TSV structure because of its low electric resistivity and high thermal conductivity. However, the electrical resistivity of the electroplated copper thin films surrounded by SiO2 was found to vary drastically comparing with those of the conventional bulk material. This was because that the electroplated copper thin films consisted of grains with low crystallinity and grain boundaries, in other words, abnormally high defect density. Thus, both the crystallinity and electrical properties of the TSV structure was investigated quantitatively by changing their electroplating conditions and thermal history after the electroplating. It was observed that many voids and hillocks appeared in the TSV structures depending on the electroplating conditions. It was also found that the stress-induced migration occurred after the high temperature annealing which was introduced for improving the crystallinity of the electroplated films. Therefore, it is very important to evaluate the crystallographic quality of the electroplated copper thin films after electroplating to assure both the mechanical and electrical properties of the films.

Evaluation of the Crystallographic Quality of Electroplated Copper Thin-Film Interconnection Embedded in a Si Substrate

Electroplated copper thin films have started to be applied to the interconnection material in TSV structures because of its low electric resistivity and high thermal conductivity. However, the electrical resistivity of the electroplated copper thin films surrounded by SiO2 was found to vary drastically comparing with those of the conventional bulk material. This was because that the electroplated copper thin films consisted of grains with low crystallinity and grain boundaries with high defect density. Thus, in this study, both the crystallinity and electrical properties of the electroplated copper thin films embedded in the TSV structure was evaluated quantitatively by changing the electroplating conditions and thermal history after the electroplating. It was observed that many voids and hillocks appeared in the TSV structures after the high temperature annealing which was introduced for improving the crystallinity of the electroplated films. Therefore, it is very important to evaluate the crystallographic quality of the electroplated copper thin films after electroplating to assure both the mechanical and electrical properties of the films.