Effect of Component Flexibility During Thermal Cycling of Sintered Nano-Silver Joints by X-ray Microtomography

X-ray tomography was used to monitor damage evolution in nano-silver sintered joints during thermal cycling. Samples consisted of a silicon die joined to a direct bond copper substrate by sintering nano-silver paste. The amount of observable damage was significantly affected by the amount of allowable warping during the thermal cycling tests. By fully constraining the sample from flexing during thermal cycling, all observable damage was eliminated.