Effects of Sintering Parameters on Silver Joints Prepared with Micron Silver Paste for Power Electronics

Power electronic devices have a wide range of applications in many fields. As power electronic devices gradually require high temperature and high reliability applications, traditional interconnect materials can no longer meet the requirements. Silver paste which can be sintered at low-temperature and can endure high-temperature working condition is one the most promising materials for power electronic device interconnection. Due to the excellent properties of nano-materials, nano-silver particle paste is currently mostly used, but its cost is relatively high. Therefore, the development and application of low-cost micron silver paste is one of the current research hot topics.This paper intends to explore the effects of preheating conditions, sintering temperature and time on the reliability of the joints prepared by self-developed micron-sized silver flake paste. It is found that the change of sintering temperature has an obvious effect on the mechanical properties of solder joints. In addition, we explore the most suitable pressureless sintering process for the of self-developed silver paste. Considering the mechanical properties of the joints and the requirements of low temperature and short sintering time during the sintering process, the preheating process was set to 130 °C for 10 min, and then the sintering process was at 250 °C for 15 min. The research results provide technical support and theoretical basis for the application of micron-sized silver paste.