Polymer cure modeling for microelectronics applications

A review ofpolymer cure models used in microelectronics packaging applications reveals no clear consensus ofthe chemical rate constants for the cure reactions, or even ofan effective model. The problem lies in the contrast between the actual cure process, which involves a sequence ofdistinct chemical reactions, and the models, which typically assume only one, (or two with some restrictions on the independence of their characteristic constants.) The standard techniques to determine the model parameters are based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), which cannot distinguish between the reactions, and hence yields results useful only under the same conditions, which completely misses the point of modeling. The obvious solution is for manufacturers to provide the modeling parameters, but failing that, an alternative experimental technique is required to determine individual reaction parameters, e.g. Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR).