• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.142-147
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• 2010

We evaluated characteristics of ENEPIG (Electroless Nickel Electroless Palladium Immersion Gold) surface treatment for mobile equipment that requires high reliability, in addition to investigating surface treatment processes for semiconductor boards that require high reliability such as regular PCB-package systems, board-on-chip, chip-scaled package (CSP), etc and application for semiconductor package board of SIP, BOC. As a result, it appeared that ENEPIG has superior properties compared to ENIG surface treatment in corrosion resistance, solder junction, wetting, etc. We anticipate that these results will be able to lend credibility to ENEPIG as a low-cost alternative for producing mobile devices such as the cell phones, especially when applied to mass production.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2010

An impact bending test method was used to evaluate the reliability for the solder joint of lead-free solder ball. In order to standardize the test method, the four point impact bending test was applied under the conditions of various frequencies and amounts of +/-amplitude respectively. Effects on the results were analysed. The optimum condition for impact bending test achieved in this study was the frequency of 10 Hz, and the amplitude of (+12/-1)~(+15/-1). 3 kinds of surface finishes Cu-OSP (Organic Solderability Preservative), ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold), and ENEPIG (Electroless Nickel, Electroless Palladium, Immersion Gold) were used. Fracture surface showed that cracks were initiated and fractured along the intermetallic layer in the case of surface finishes of Cu-OSP and ENIG, while in the case of ENEPIG the cracks were initiated and propagated in the solder region.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.29-34
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• 2020

The behavior of brittle fracture of electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) /Sn-3.0wt.%Ag-0.5wt.%Cu (SAC305) solder joints was evaluated. The pH of the electroless nickel plating solution for ENIG surface treatment was changed from 4.0 to 5.5. As the pH of the Ni plating solution increased, pin hole in the Ni-P layer increased. The thickness of the interfacial intermetallic compound (IMC) of the solder joint increased with pH of Ni plating solution. The high speed shear strength of the SAC305 solder joint on ENIG surface finish decreased with the pH of the Ni plating solution. In addition, the brittle fracture rate of the solder joint was the highest when the pH of the Ni plating solution was 5.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.77-77
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• 2014

솔더링과 와이어본딩이 가능한 ENEPIG (Electroless Nickel/Electroless Palladium/Immersion Gold) 를 중심으로 미세회로 기판에 적용할 수 있는 표면처리 및 공정 약품을 소개하고자 한다.

• Clean Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.84-89
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• 2013

The running blots between patterns during electroless nickel electroless palladium immersion gold (ENEPIG) surface finish of printed circuit board (PCB) are investigated and a proper solution is presented. Computational chemistry is first employed to understand the process and experiments are then designed to verify the proposed ideas. A $PdCl_2$ activator which has relatively weak chemical bonding to the epoxy resin is introduced to prevent the formation of palladium seeds on the epoxy resin and a couple of operational measures such as increasing HCl concentration and lowering the temperature of Pd activation process are executed to prevent a further hydrolysis of $PdCl_2$ to more stable $Pd(OH)_2$ in aqueous solution. Computational chemistry provides thermodynamic backgrounds for experiments and their results. This combined approach is expected to be very useful in the research of relevant processes.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.63-71
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• 2022

In this study, the interfacial reaction and drop impact reliability of Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) solder and electroless nickel autocatalytic gold (ENAG) were studied. In addition, the solder joint properties with the ENAG surface finish was compared with electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) and electroless nickel electroless palladium immersion gold (ENEPIG). The IMC thickness of SAC/ENAG and SAC/ENEPIG were 1.15 and 1.12 ㎛, respectively, which were similar each other. The IMC thickness of the SAC/ENIG was 2.99 ㎛, which was about two times higher than that of SAC/ENAG. Moreover, it was found that the IMC thickness of the solder joint was affected by the metal turnover (MTO) condition of the electroless Ni(P) plating solution, and it was found that the IMC thickness increased when the MTO increased from 0 to 3. The shear strength of SAC/ENEPIG was the highest, followed by SAC/ENAG and SAC/ENIG. It was found that when the MTO increased, the shear strength was lowered. In terms of brittle fracture, SAC/ENEPIG was the lowest among the three joints, followed by SAC/ENAG and SAC/ENIG. Likewise, it was found that as MTO increased, brittle fracture increased. In the drop impact test, it was confirmed that the 0 MTO condition had a higher average number of failures than the 3 MTO condition, and the average number of failures was also higher in the order of SAC/ENEIG, SAC/ENAG, and SAC/ENIG. As a result of observing the fracture surface after the drop impact, it was found that the fracture was between the IMC and the Ni(P) layer.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.102-119
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• 2022

Gold plating is used as a coating of connecter in printed circuit boards, ceramic integrated circuit packages, semiconductor devices and so on, because the film has excellent electric conductivity, solderability and chemical properties such as durability to acid and other chemicals. As increasing the demand for miniaturization of printed circuit boards and downsizing of electronic devices, several types of electroless gold plating solutions have been developed. Most of these conventional gold plating solutions contain cyanide compounds as a complexing agent. The gold film obtained from such baths usually satisfies the requirements for electronic parts mentioned above. However, cyanide bath is highly toxic and it always has some possibility to cause serious problems in working environment or other administrative aspects. The object of this investigation was to develop a cyanide-free electroless gold plating process that assures the high stability of the solution and gives the excellent solderability of the deposited film. The investigation reported herein is intended to establish plating bath composition and plating conditions for electroless gold plating, with thiomalic acid as a complexing agent. At the same time, we have investigated the solution stability against nickel ion and pull strength of solder ball. Furthermore, by examining the characteristics of the plated Au plating film, the problems of the newly developed electroless Au plating solution were improved and the applicability to various industrial fields was examined. New type electroless gold-plating bath which containing thiomalic acid as a complexing agent showing so good solution stability and film properties as cyanide bath. And this bath shows the excellent stability even if the dissolved nickel ion was added from under coated nickel film, which can be used at the neutral pH range.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.11-17
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• 2009

The drop impact reliability comes to be important for evaluation of the life time of mobile electronic products such as cellular phone. The drop impact reliability of solder joint is generally affected by the kinds of pad and reflow number, therefore, the reliability evaluation is needed. Drop impact test proposed by JEDEC has been used as a standard method, however, which requires high cost and long time. The drop impact reliability can be indirectly evaluated by using high speed shear test of solder joints. Solder joints formed on 3 kinds of surface finishes OSP (Organic Solderability Preservation), ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) and ENEPIG (Electroless Nickel Electroless Palladium Immersion Gold) was investigated. The shear strength was analysed with the morphology change of intermetallic compound (IMC) layer according to reflow number. The layer thickness of IMC was increased with the increase of reflow number, which resulted in the decrease of the high speed shear strength and impact energy. The order of the high speed shear strength and impact energy was ENEPIG > ENIG > OSP after the 1st reflow, and ENEPIG > OSP > ENIG after 8th reflow.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.167-169
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• 2016

Solder/electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) joint sample which is comprised of dissimilar materials with different mechanical properties has limited the level of success in preparing thin samples for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This short technical note reports the operation parameters for ultramicrotomy of solder joint sample and TEM analysis results. The solder joint sample was successfully sliced to 50~70 nm thick lamellae at slicing speed of 0.8~1.2 mm/s using a boat-type $45^{\circ}$ diamond knife. Ultramicrotomy can be applied as a routine sample preparation technique for TEM analysis of solder joints.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.83-90
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• 2017

In this paper, we evaluated the solderability of thin electroless nickel-electroless palladium-immersion gold (ENEPIG) plating layer for fine-pitch package applications. Firstly, the wetting behavior, interfacial reactions, and mechanical reliability of a Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) solder alloy on a thin ENEPIG coated substrate were evaluated. In the wetting test, maximum wetting force increased with increasing immersion time, and the wetting force remained a constant value after 5 s immersion time. In the initial soldering reaction, $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ intermetallic compound (IMC) and P-rich Ni layer formed at the SAC305/ENEPIG interface. After a prolonged reaction, the P-rich Ni layer was destroyed, and $(Cu,Ni)_3Sn$ IMC formed underneath the destroyed P-rich Ni layer. In the high-speed shear test, the percentage of brittle fracture increased with increasing shear speed.