Green synthesis of novel in situ micro/submicron-Cu paste for semiconductor interconnection

Abstract A green method for the synthesis of in situ Cu paste is developed. Cu particles are prepared through chemical reduction by selecting a special copper source, reducing agent, and solvent. Then the reaction solution is directly concentrated to obtain an in situ Cu paste. The synthesis of Cu particles and the preparation of Cu paste are conducted simultaneously, and the process of separation, purification, drying, storage, and re-dispersion of powder are reduced. Particles are not directly exposed to air, thus the oxidation of micro/submicron -Cu is effectively prevented, and the agglomeration of particles caused by drying and dispersion operations is simultaneously reduced. Furthermore, the proposed method has a certain universality, and different types of Cu sources can be used to prepare in situ paste with different sizes and morphologies. The entire preparation process is simple, efficient, green, and the yield can reach 99.99%, which breaks through the bottleneck of the application of traditional micro/submicron-Cu materials. Copper acetate-based in situ paste is sintered for 30 min at 260 °C and 2 MPa in a reducing atmosphere. The shear strength, resistivity, and thermal conductivity reach 55.26 MPa, 4.01 × 10 –8 Ω·m, and 92.75 W/(m·K), respectively, which could meet the interconnection application of power semiconductor devices.