Various adhesive materials are used in flip chip packaging for electrical interconnection and structural reinforcement. In cases of COF(chip on film) packages, low temperature bonding adhesive is currently needed for the utilization of low thermal resistance substrate films, such as PEN(polyethylene naphthalate) and PET(polyethylene terephthalate). In this study, the effects of anhydride and dihydrazide hardeners on the low-temperature snap cure behavior of epoxy based non-conductive pastes(NCPs) were investigated to reduce flip chip bonding temperature. Dynamic DSC(differential scanning calorimetry) and isothermal DEA(dielectric analysis) results showed that the curing rate of MHHPA(hexahydro-4-methylphthalic anhydride) at 160˚C was faster than that of ADH(adipic dihydrazide) when considering the onset and peak curing temperatures. In a die shear test performed after flip chip bonding, however, ADH-containing formulations indicated faster trends in reaching saturated bond strength values due to the post curing effect. More enhanced HAST(highly accelerated stress test) reliability could be achieved in an assembly having a higher initial bond strength and, thus, MHHPA is considered to be a more effective hardener than ADH for low temperature snap cure NCPs.

The application of flip chip technology has been growing with the trend of miniaturization of electronic packages, especially in mobile electronics. Currently, several types of adhesive are used for flip chip bonding and these adhesives require some special properties; they must be solvent-free and fast curing and must ensure joint reliability against thermal fatigue and humidity. In this study, imidazole and its derivatives were added as curing catalysts to epoxy resin and their effects on the adhesive properties were investigated. Non-isothermal DSC analyses showed that the curing temperatures and the heat of reaction were dependent primarily on the type of catalyst. Isothermal dielectric analyses showed that the curing time was dependent on the amount of catalysts added as well as their type. The die shear strength increased with the increase of catalyst content while the Tg decreased. From this study, imidazole catalysts with low molecular weight are expected to be beneficial for snap curing and high adhesion strength for flip chip bonding applications.