Numerical Modeling for the Underfill Flow in Flip-Chip Packaging

In the prediction of underfill flow in a flip-chip package, numerical methods are usually used for flow analysis and simulation since analytical methods cannot meet the requirement for predicting fluid distribution in a planar analysis. At present, there appears to be no simulation software commercially available that is able to provide adequate prediction for the underfill flow process driven by capillary force in a micro-cavity situation. In the study presented in this paper, a numerical model was proposed for the prediction of flip-chip underfill flow. In this model, the power-law constitutive equation was used to describe the non-Newtonian behavior of encapsulant fluids and a time-dependent velocity boundary condition was used instead of the pressure boundary condition commonly used. The comparison between the model-predicted and experimental results indicated that this model can give a good prediction for the underfill flow in a micro-cavity. This model was implemented by a general-purpose commercially available software program ANSYS, which has a high reliability and wide accessibility.