US5341980A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method of fabricating electronic circuit device and apparatus for performing the same method
Assignee: Hitachi Ltd
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Filing: 1992-05-29
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Granted: 1994-08-30
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Expires: 2012-05-29
Abstract
Abstract In a method of soldering for use in fabricating electronic circuit device, after an oxide layer and/or contaminated layer on a surface of a soldering material and members to be soldered thereby is removed by sputter-cleaning with atom or ion, the members are aligned in an oxidizing atmosphere within a predetermined time period and, then, the soldering material is heated in non-oxidizing atmosphere to performe soldering. An apparatus for performing the above method comprises a sputter cleaning device, an alignment device operable in atmospheric condition and a heating and soldering device in the form of a belt furnace operable in non-oxidizing or reducing environment. Instead of the sputter cleaning device, a mechanical polishing or cutting device can be used to cleaning a surface of solder or a member to be bonded or a solder ball plated with gold may be used. An alignment between two members to be bonded is provided by an alignment mark means which comprises a protrusion on a surface of one member and a complimental recess formed at a center portion of a protrusion means formed on a corresponding surface of the other member.
Inventors
- 👤 Toru Nishikawa
- 👤 Ryohei Satoh
- 👤 Masahide Harada
- 👤 Tetsuya Hayashida
- 👤 Mitugu Shirai
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 13:25
CPC Classifications
B; B23; B23K; B23K1/00; B23K1/0008; B23K1/0016; H; H05; H05K; H05K3/00; H05K3/30; H05K3/32; H05K3/34; H05K3/341; H05K3/3431; H05K3/3436; B23K1/008; B23K1/20; B23K1/206; H05K3/3489; H10; H10P; H10P72/00; H10P72/70; H10P72/74; H10W; H10W70/00; H10W70/099; H10W72/00; H10W72/20; H10W74/00; H10W74/01; H10W74/012; H10W74/10; H10W74/15; H10W90/00; H10W90/701; B23K2101/00; B23K2101/36; B23K2101/40; H05K2201/00; H05K2201/10; H05K2201/10613; H05K2201/10954; H05K2201/10984; H05K2203/00; H05K2203/02; H05K2203/025; H05K2203/0278; H05K2203/04; H05K2203/041; H05K2203/0435; H05K2203/08; H05K2203/086; H05K2203/087; H05K2203/09; H05K2203/095; H05K2203/11; H05K2203/1157; H05K3/3421; H05K3/3426; H10W72/01; H10W72/011; H10W72/0112; H10W72/012; H10W72/01204; H10W72/01221; H10W72/01225; H10W72/071; H10W72/0711; H10W72/072; H10W72/07221; H10W72/07227; H10W72/07231; H10W72/07236; H10W72/07251; H10W72/251; H10W72/252; H10W72/851; H10W72/853; H10W72/856; Y; Y02; Y02P; Y02P70/00; Y02P70/50
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 39
Claim 1
Independent Claim
76 words
A method of soldering for use in fabricating an electronic circuit device, comprising the steps of: removing at least one of an oxide layer and contamination layer both from a surface of a soldering material and from a surface of members to be soldered thereby, by sputter-cleaning with at least one of atom and ion; aligning said members in an oxidizing atmosphere; and heating said soldering material and performing a soldering operation in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
76 words
A method of soldering for use in fabricating an electronic circuit device, comprising the steps of: removing at least one of an oxide layer and contamination layer both from a surface of a soldering material and from a surface of members to be soldered thereby, by sputter-cleaning with at least one of atom and ion; aligning said members in an oxidizing atmosphere; and heating said soldering material and performing a soldering operation in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
78 words
A method of soldering for use in fabricating an electric circuit device, comprising the steps of: removing at least one of an oxide layer and a contamination layer from surfaces of a soldering material and members to be soldered thereby, by sputter-cleaning with at least one of atom or ion; supplying oxygen to said surfaces to form thin oxide films thereon; aligning said members; and heating said soldering material and performing a soldering operation in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
78 words
A method of soldering for use in fabricating an electric circuit device, comprising the steps of: removing at least one of an oxide layer and a contamination layer from surfaces of a soldering material and members to be soldered thereby, by sputter-cleaning with at least one of atom or ion; supplying oxygen to said surfaces to form thin oxide films thereon; aligning said members; and heating said soldering material and performing a soldering operation in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
64 words
The method claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said soldering material is at least one selected from a group consisting of alloys of Pb and Sn, alloys of Sn and Ag, alloys of Au and Sn, alloys of Au and Ge and alloys of Au and Si, and wherein said aligning step in an oxidizing atmosphere is performed for at most six hours.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method claimed in claim 2, wherein said non-oxidizing atmosphere is inert gas.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method claimed in claim 4, wherein said non-oxidizing atmosphere is He.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method claimed in claim 4, wherein said non-oxidizing atmosphere is argon gas.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method claimed in claim 4, wherein said non-oxidizing atmosphere is N 2 .
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said non-oxidizing atmosphere is reducing gas.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method claimed in claim 8, wherein said non-oxidizing atmosphere is an active gas atmosphere.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method claimed in claim 9, wherein said active gas atmosphere is selected from the group consisting of (1) a mixture of H 2 and N 2 and (2) H 2 .
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein, during said heating, any oxide film formed on the soldering material during the aligning step is segmented so as to expose soldering material during the soldering operation.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the aligning in an oxidizing atmosphere is performed for a maximum of 8 hours.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the aligning in an oxidizing atmosphere is performed for a time sufficiently limited such that an oxide film formed on the soldering material during the aligning has a thickness of at most 5 nm.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein two members are joined by said soldering material.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said non-oxidizing atmosphere is fluorocarbon vapor.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
69 words
A method of soldering for use in fabricating an electric circuit device, comprising the steps of: removing at least one of an oxide layer and a contamination film from surfaces of a solder material and at least one member to be connected thereto; aligning said at least one member and said solder material in an oxidizing atmosphere; and heating said solder material in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to melt it.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
69 words
A method of soldering for use in fabricating an electric circuit device, comprising the steps of: removing at least one of an oxide layer and a contamination film from surfaces of a solder material and at least one member to be connected thereto; aligning said at least one member and said solder material in an oxidizing atmosphere; and heating said solder material in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to melt it.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method claimed in claim 16, wherein said solder material has an oxide film of a thickness of at most 5 nm when said solder material is heated in the non-oxidizing atmosphere to melt it.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method claimed in claim 17, wherein said oxide film having a thickness of at most 5 nm is an oxide film formed at least in part during said aligning in an oxidizing atmosphere.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
79 words
A method of soldering for use in fabricating an electric circuit device, comprising the steps of: preliminarily processing solder material so as to provide solder material that does not have at least one of an oxide layer and contamination film thereon; aligning said solder material and at least one member in an oxidizing atmosphere; and heating said solder material in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to melt said solder material and bond said solder material to said at least one member.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
79 words
A method of soldering for use in fabricating an electric circuit device, comprising the steps of: preliminarily processing solder material so as to provide solder material that does not have at least one of an oxide layer and contamination film thereon; aligning said solder material and at least one member in an oxidizing atmosphere; and heating said solder material in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to melt said solder material and bond said solder material to said at least one member.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method claimed in claim 19, wherein said preliminary processing includes providing solder balls each plated with gold.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method claimed in claim 20, wherein the solder material and two members are aligned in the oxidizing atmosphere, and in the heating step the solder material is melted so as to bond the two members to each other.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method claimed in claim 19, wherein said preliminary processing includes removing at least one of oxide layer and contamination layer from surface of said solder material.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
58 words
A fluxless bonding method for bonding connecting members of an integrated circuit, comprising the steps of: removing at least one of oxide film and contamination film on at least one of said connecting members and a solder material; aligning said connecting members is an oxidizing atmosphere; and heating said solder material in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to melt it.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
58 words
A fluxless bonding method for bonding connecting members of an integrated circuit, comprising the steps of: removing at least one of oxide film and contamination film on at least one of said connecting members and a solder material; aligning said connecting members is an oxidizing atmosphere; and heating said solder material in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to melt it.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method claimed in claim 23, wherein said non-oxidizing atmosphere is prepared by supplying non-oxidizing gas to a vacuum atmosphere.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method claimed in claim 24, wherein said non-oxidizing gas is inert gas selected from the group consisting of N 2 , Ar and He and a mixture thereof, and wherein said atmosphere during the heating is controlled by controlling said vacuum pressure and concentration of said gas.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method claimed in claim 27, wherein said non-oxidizing atmosphere is a mixture of H 2 and N 2 and wherein said non-oxidizing atmosphere during the heating is controlled by controlling concentration of said mixture.
Claim 32
Independent Claim
75 words
The method claimed in any one of claims 23 to 26, further comprising the steps of: preliminarily evacuating a prenum chamber, equipped with a vacuum system and gas supply system each having a gate valve, and having said connecting members therein; heating and melting said connecting members in a belt furnace equipped with a vacuum system and a gas supply system each having a gate valve; and cooling said connecting members in a cooling chamber.
Claim 33
Independent Claim
51 words
The method claimed in any one of claims 23 to 26, wherein said step of removing at least one of oxide film and contamination film of at least one of said connecting members and said solder material is performed by sputter-cleaning using at least one of atom and ion beam irradiation.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
40 words
The method claimed in any one of claims 23 to 26, wherein said step of removing at least one of oxide film and contamination film of at least one of said connecting members and said solder material is performed mechanically.
Claim 35
Independent Claim
19 words
The method claimed in any one of claims 23 to 26, wherein said step of removing is performed mechanically.
Claim 36
Independent Claim
39 words
The method claimed in any one of claims 23 to 26, wherein said step of aligning is performed by fitting protrusions formed on one of said connecting members in recesses formed in protrusion means formed on another connecting member.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method claimed in claim 23, wherein said step of aligning is performed by fitting protrusions formed on one of said connecting members in recesses formed in protrusion means formed on another connecting member.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method claimed in claim 32, wherein at least one of (a) protrusion and (b) at least a portion of said protrusion means is formed of a refractive resin.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method claimed in claim 32, wherein at least one of (a) said protrusion and (b) at least a portion of said protrusion means is formed from at least one solder ball welded to said members.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1997-08-29 | 1998-02-28 | 1998-08-30 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2001-08-29 | 2002-02-28 | 2002-08-30 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2005-08-29 | 2006-02-28 | 2006-08-30 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |