Dow Introduces New SOLDERON™ Tin-Silver Plating Chemistry For Lead-Free Bump Plating

Marlborough, MA - October 09, 2013

Dow Electronic Materials
News

Dow Electronic Materials, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW), today announced availability of its SOLDERON™ BP TS 6000 Tin-Silver Plating Chemistry for use in lead-free solder bump plating applications. This next-generation formulation features enhanced plating performance, bath stability and ease-of-use, thereby enabling the industry's widest process window with the most robust process flexibility and a competitive cost of ownership (COO).

"As flip chip packages become mainstream and the industry continues to move toward 2.5D and 3D packaging technologies, there is a clear market requirement for high-performance lead-free alternatives for plating applications,” said Dr. Robert Kavanagh, global business director, Advanced Packaging Metallization, for Dow Electronic Materials. "Customers need materials optimized for today’s finer bump geometries. This new chemistry achieves significant performance improvements, delivering even faster plating speeds, better uniformity and smoother surface morphology in addition to a smooth, void-free interface when used together with Dow’s and other leading copper (Cu) pillar formulations.”

With a single formulation, SOLDERON BP TS 6000 Tin-Silver (SnAg) is capable of plating speeds ranging from 2 to 9 um/min, which creates a significantly wider operating window when compared with other solutions in the marketplace. The tunable nature of the Ag composition in this formulation makes it suitable for a number of applications and eliminates the need to change the chemistry to address different processing requirements. The new chemistry has proven to be robust enough for both bumping and capping of a wide range of patterned wafers and it is not restricted for use with specific photoresists. It exhibits with-in die (WID) uniformity after reflow of <5% over a wide range of wafer types, which demonstrates its suitability for high-volume manufacturing. Additionally, it is macro- and micro-void free after reflow for improved yields and reliability.

"One of the most compelling strengths of SOLDERON BP TS 6000 Tin-Silver is the product’s enormous flexibility, which allows it to perform exceptionally well in a variety of applications from in-via and mushroom bumping to Cu and micro-Cu pillar capping,” added Kavanagh.

SOLDERON BP TS 6000 Tin-Silver plating bath has proven to be both electrolytically and thermally stable, which contributes to the chemistry's competitive COO. Offering an electrolytic bathlife of >100 Ah/L and a ≥6-month pot life, it is compatible with in-line metrology processes, for superior ease-of-use.

Samples are currently available and in beta testing with multiple customers.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2012, Dow had annual sales of $57 billion and employed approximately 54,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

About Dow Electronic Materials

Dow Electronic Materials, a global supplier of materials and technologies to the electronics industry, brings innovative leadership to the semiconductor, interconnect, finishing, photovoltaic, display, LED and optics markets. From advanced technology centers worldwide, teams of talented Dow research scientists and application experts work closely with customers, providing solutions, products and technical service necessary for next-generation electronics. These partnerships energize Dow's power to invent. Its key end-use applications include a broad range of consumer electronics from personal computers, to television monitors, smart phones and tablets and other mobile devices as well as electronic devices and systems used in a variety of industries. More information about Dow Electronic Materials can be found at http://www.dowelectronicmaterials.com.

For Editorial Information:

Jeremy Cole
Dow Electronic Materials
+1 508 229 7047
[email protected]

Amy Smith
Impress Labs
+1 401 369 9266
[email protected]