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This paper aims to realize the vertical interconnection in 3D radio frequency (RF) circuit by coaxial transitions with broad working bandwidth and small signal loss.

An advanced packaging method, 12-inch wafer-level through-mold-via (TMV) additive manufacturing, is used to fabricate a 3D resin-based coaxial transition with a continuous ground wall (named resin-coaxial transition). Designation and simulation are implemented to ensure the application universality and fabrication feasibility. The outer radius R of coaxial transition is optimized by designing and fabricating three samples.

The fabricated coaxial transition possesses an inner radius of 40 µm and a length of 200 µm. The optimized sample with an outer radius R of 155 µm exhibits S11 < –10 dB and S21 > –1.3 dB at 10–110 GHz and the smallest insertion loss (S21 = 0.83 dB at 77 GHz) among the samples. Moreover, the S21 of the samples increases at 58.4–90.1 GHz, indicating a broad and suitable working bandwidth.

The wafer-level TMV additive manufacturing method is applied to fabricate coaxial transitions for the first time. The fabricated resin-coaxial transitions show good performance up to the W-band. It may provide new strategies for novel designing and fabricating methods of RF transitions.

This paper aims to examine the effects of bonding temperature, bonding time, bonding pressure and the presence of a Pt catalyst on the bonding strength of Cu/SB/P-Cu/SB/Cu joints by transient liquid phase bonding (TLPB).

TLPB is promising to assemble die-attaching packaging for power devices. In this study, porous Cu (P-Cu) foil with a distinctive porous structure and Sn-58Bi solder (SB) serve as the bonding materials for TLPB under a formic acid atmosphere (FA). The high surface area of P-Cu enables efficient diffusion of the liquid phase of SB, stimulating the wetting, spreading and formation of intermetallic compounds (IMCs).

The higher bonding temperature decreased strength due to the coarsening of IMCs. The longer bonding time reduced the bonding strength owing to the coarsened Bi and thickened IMC. Applying optimal bonding pressure improved bonding strength, whereas excessive pressure caused damage. The presence of a Pt catalyst enhanced bonding efficiency and strength by facilitating reduction–oxidation reactions and oxide film removal.

Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility of low-temperature TLPB for Cu/SB/P-Cu/SB/Cu joints and provides insights into optimizing bonding strength for the interconnecting materials in the applications of power devices.

This study aims to investigate the thermal fracture mechanism of moisture-preconditioned SAC305 ball grid array (BGA) solder joints subjected to multiple reflow and thermal cycling.

The BGA package samples are subjected to JEDEC Level 1 accelerated moisture treatment (85 °C/85%RH/168 h) with five times reflow at 270 °C. This is followed by multiple thermal cycling from 0 °C to 100 °C for 40 min per cycle, per IPC-7351B standards. For fracture investigation, the cross-sections of the samples are examined and analysed using the dye-and-pry technique and backscattered scanning electron microscopy. The packages' microstructures are characterized using an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy approach. Also, the package assembly is investigated using the Darveaux numerical simulation method.

The study found that critical strain density is exhibited at the component pad/solder interface of the solder joint located at the most distant point from the axes of symmetry of the package assembly. The fracture mechanism is a crack fracture formed at the solder's exterior edges and grows across the joint's transverse section. It was established that Au content in the formed intermetallic compound greatly impacts fracture growth in the solder joint interface, with a composition above 5 Wt.% Au regarded as an unsafe level for reliability. The elongation of the crack is aided by the brittle nature of the Au-Sn interface through which the crack propagates. It is inferred that refining the solder matrix elemental compound can strengthen and improve the reliability of solder joints.

Inspection lead time and additional manufacturing expenses spent on investigating reliability issues in BGA solder joints can be reduced using the study's findings on understanding the solder joint fracture mechanism.

Limited studies exist on the thermal fracture mechanism of moisture-preconditioned BGA solder joints exposed to both multiple reflow and thermal cycling. This study applied both numerical and experimental techniques to examine the reliability issue.

Au stud bump bonding technology is an effective means to realize heterogeneous integration of commercial chips in the 2.5D electronic packaging. The purpose of this paper is to study the long-term reliability of the Au stud bump treated by four different high temperature storage times (200°C for 0, 100, 200 and 300 h).

The bonding strength and the fracture behavior are investigated by chip shear test. The experiment is further studied by microstructural characterization approaches such as scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometer and so on.

It is recognized that there were mainly three typical fracture models during the chip shear test among all the Au stud bump samples treated by high temperature storage. For solder bump before aging, the fracture occurred at the interface between the Cu pad and the Au stud bump. As the aging time increased, the fracture mainly occurred inside the Au stud bump at 200°C for 100 and 200 h. When aging time increased to 300 h, it is found that the fracture transferred to the interface between the Au stud bump and the Al Pad.

In addition, the bonding strength also changed with the high temperature storage time increasing. The bonding strength does not change linearly with the high temperature storage time increasing but decreases first and then increases. The investigation shows that the formation of the intermetallic compounds because of the reaction between the Au and Al atoms plays a key role on the bonding strength and fracture behavior variation.

This study aims to characterize the mechanical properties of sintered nano-silver under various sintering processes by nano-indentation tests.

Through microstructure observations and characterization, the influences of sintering process on the microstructure evolutions of sintered nano-silver were presented. And, the indentation load, indentation displacement curves of sintered silver under various sintering processes were measured by using nano-indentation test. Based on the nano-indentation test, a reverse analysis of the finite element calculation was used to determine the yielding stress and hardening exponent.

The porosity decreases with the increase of the sintering temperature, while the average particle size of sintered nano-silver increases with the increase of sintering temperature and sintering time. In addition, the porosity reduced from 34.88%, 30.52%, to 25.04% if the ramp rate was decreased from 25°C/min, 15°C/min, to 5°C/min, respectively. The particle size appears more frequently within 1 µm and 2 µm under the lower ramp rate. With reverse analysis, the strain hardening exponent gradually heightened with the increase of temperature, while the yielding stress value decreased significantly with the increase of temperature. When the sintering time increased, the strain hardening exponent increased slightly.

The mechanical properties of sintered nano-silver under different sintering processes are clearly understood.

This paper could provide a novel perspective on understanding the sintering process effects on the mechanical properties of sintered nano-silver.

This paper aims to concentrate on recent innovations in flexible wearable sensor technology tailored for monitoring vital signals within the contexts of wearable sensors and systems developed specifically for monitoring health and fitness metrics.

In recent decades, wearable sensors for monitoring vital signals in sports and health have advanced greatly. Vital signals include electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, electromyography, inertial data, body motions, cardiac rate and bodily fluids like blood and sweating, making them a good choice for sensing devices.

This report reviewed reputable journal articles on wearable sensors for vital signal monitoring, focusing on multimode and integrated multi-dimensional capabilities like structure, accuracy and nature of the devices, which may offer a more versatile and comprehensive solution.

The paper provides essential information on the present obstacles and challenges in this domain and provide a glimpse into the future directions of wearable sensors for the detection of these crucial signals. Importantly, it is evident that the integration of modern fabricating techniques, stretchable electronic devices, the Internet of Things and the application of artificial intelligence algorithms has significantly improved the capacity to efficiently monitor and leverage these signals for human health monitoring, including disease prediction.

The purpose of the present work is to study the impacts of rapid cooling and Tb rare-earth additions on the structural, thermal and mechanical behavior of Bi–0.5Ag lead-free solder for high-temperature applications.

Effect of rapid solidification processing on structural, thermal and mechanical properties of Bi-Ag lead-free solder reinforced Tb rare-earth element.

The obtained results indicated that the microstructure consists of rhombohedral Bi-rich phase and Ag99.5Bi0.5 intermetallic compound (IMC). The addition of Tb could effectively reduce the onset and melting point. The elastic modulus of Tb-containing solders was enhanced to about 90% at 0.5 Tb. The higher elastic modulus may be attributed to solid solution strengthening effect, solubility extension, microstructure refinement and precipitation hardening of uniform distribution Ag99.5Bi0.5 IMC particles which can reasonably modify the microstructure, as well as inhibit the segregation and hinder the motion of dislocations.

It is recommended that the lead-free Bi-0.5Ag-0.5Tb solder be a candidate instead of common solder alloy (Sn-37Pb) for high temperature and high performance applications.

Wafer bonding is a key process for 3 D advanced packaging of integrated circuits. It requires very high accuracy for the wafer alignment. To solve the problems of large movement stroke, position calibration error and low production efficiency in optical alignment, this paper aims to propose a new wafer magnetic alignment technology (MAT) which is based on tunnel magneto resistance effect. MAT can realize micro distance alignment and reduces the design and manufacturing difficulty of wafer bonding equipment.

The current methods and existing problems of wafer optical alignment are introduced, and the mechanism and realization process of wafer magnetic alignment are proposed. Micro magnetic column (MMC) marks are designed on the wafer by the semiconductor manufacturing process. The mathematical model of the space magnetic field of the MMC is established, and the magnetic field distribution of the MMC alignment is numerically simulated and visualized. The relationship between the alignment accuracy and the MMC diameter, MMC remanence, MMC thickness and sensor measurement height was studied.

The simulation analysis shows that the overlapping double MMCs can align the wafer with accuracy within 1 µm and can control the bonding distance within the micrometer range to improve the alignment efficiency.

Magnetic alignment technology provides a new idea for wafer bonding alignment, which is expected to improve the accuracy and efficiency of wafer bonding.

Polymer-based thermal interface materials (TIMs) are having pump out problem and could be resolved for reliable application. Solid-based interface materials have been suggested and reported. The purpose of this paper is suggesting thin film-based TIM to sustain the light-emiting diode (LED) performance and electronic device miniaturization.

Consequently, ZnO thin film at various thicknesses was prepared by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method and tested their thermal behaviour using thermal transient analysis as solid TIM for high-power LED.

Low value in total thermal resistance (R_th-tot) was observed for ZnO thin film boundary condition than bare Al boundary condition. The measured interface (ZnO thin film) resistance {(R_th-bhs) thermal resistance of the interface layer (thin film) placed between metal core printed circuit board (MCPCB) board and Al substrates} was nearly equal to Ag paste boundary condition and showed low values for ZnO film prepared at 30 min process time measured at 700 mA. The T_J value of LED mounted on ZnO thin film (prepared at 30 min.) coated Al substrates was measured to be 74.8°C. High value in junction temperature difference (ΔT_J) of about 4.7°C was noticed with 30 min processed ZnO thin film when compared with Al boundary condition. Low correlated colour temperature and high luminous flux values of tested LED were also observed with ZnO thin film boundary condition (processed at 30 min) compared with both Al substrate and Ag paste boundary condition.

Overall, 30 min CVD processed ZnO thin film would be an alternative for commercial TIM to achieve efficient thermal management. This will increase the life span of the LED as the proposed material decreases the T_J values.

Lean manufacturing (LM) is prevalent in the manufacturing industry; thus, focusing on fast and accurate lean tool implementation is the new paradigm in manufacturing. Value stream mapping (VSM) is one of the many LM tools. It is understood that combining LM implementation with VSM tools can generate better outcomes. This paper aims to develop an expert system for optimal sequencing of VSM tools for lean implementation.

A proposed artificial neural network (ANN) model is based on the analytic network process (ANP) devised for this study. It will facilitate the selection of VSM tools in an optimal sequence.

Considering different types of wastes and their level of occurrence, organizations need a set of specific tools that will be effective in the elimination of these wastes. The developed ANP model computes a level of interrelation between wastes and VSM tools. The ANN is designed and trained by data obtained from numerous case studies, so it can predict the accurate sequence of VSM tools for any new case data set.

The design and use of the ANN model provide an integrated result of both empirical and practical cases, which is more accurate because all viable aspects are then considered. The proposed modeling approach is validated through implementation in an automobile manufacturing company. It has resulted in benefits, namely, reduction in bias, time required, effort required and complexity of the decision process. More importantly, according to all performance criteria and subcriteria, the main goal of this research was satisfied by increasing the accuracy of selecting the appropriate VSM tools and their optimal sequence for lean implementation.