Investigation of plasma effects on plastic packages delamination and cracking

The use of a nonreactive plasma formed in a radio frequency discharge as a treatment to various substrates to reduce or eliminate the organic and inorganic contamination, thereby preventing intimate interfacial contact, was investigated. Argon was investigated as the plasma gas. The effects of time chamber pressure, and power were studied. A goniometer was utilized to measure wetting contact angles as a quantitative measure of the cleaning effectiveness of the surface treatment. Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) data are correlated with substrate hydrophilicity, delamination, and package cracking. The results show the argon plasma treatment to be an effective means of reducing interfacial organic and inorganic contamination and improving the polyimide-to-mold-compound. The improvement in package cracking performance brought about by the argon plasma treatment is significant