Experimental and Modeling Analysis of the Reliability of the Anisotropic Conductive Films

Experiments as well as computer modeling methods have been used to investigate the effect of the solder reflow process on the electrical characteristics and reliability of anisotropic conductive film (ACF) interconnections. In the experiments, the contact resistance of the ACF interconnections was found to increase after a subsequent reflow and the magnitude of this increase was strongly correlated to the peak temperature of the reflow profile. In fact, nearly 40 percent of the joints were opened (i.e. lifted away from the pad) after the reflow with a peak temperature of 260 °C while no openings was observed when the peak temperature was 210 °C. It is believed that the CTE mismatch between the polymer particle and the adhesive matrix is the main cause of this contact degradation. To understand this phenomenon better, a 3-D model of an ACF joint structure was built and Finite Element Analysis was used to predict the stress distribution in the conductive particles, adhesive matrix and metal pads during the reflow process. The effects of the peak temperature, the I of the adhesive matrix and the bump height on the reliability of the ACF interconnections were discussed.