Oct 05, 2004 Micralyne Inc., a market-leading MEMS manufacturer, announced today that Project Scientist, Dr. Siamak Akhlaghi, has received a Silver Medal Award from the American Electroplaters and Surface Finishers Society (AESF). Dr. Akhlaghi was presented the Abner Brenner Award, for the second straight year, for the best paper published in the Plating and Surface Finishing Journal during the year 2003.
The general topic of Dr. Akhlaghi's paper is the electroplating of gold-tin eutectic solders, which are used for packaging microelectronic and optoelectronic devices because of their excellent thermal and mechanical properties and relatively low melting or reflow temperature. This type of electroplating is a cost effective alternative to current commercial solder deposition processes, such as evaporation and more flexible in terms of placement compared to solder preforms.
The award winning paper, Effect of Processing Parameters on the Electroplating of Au-Sn Solders, focuses specifically on a co-electroplating process that has been developed for depositing Au/Sn alloys, from a slightly acidic, chloride-based solution using pulsed currents, onto patterned or blanket metallized ceramic and semiconductor substrates.
The electroplating solution stability along with the effect of agitation and temperature on the electroplating process was studied. The useful lifetime of the solution is about three days. In addition, deposit uniformity could be improved through solution agitation, although too much agitation reduced the Sn content and increased the surface roughness in the deposit. Moreover, it was observed that increasing the solution temperature to above 35 °C was not beneficial, due primarily to an increase in the oxidation rate of Sn in solution, which, in turn, reduced the amount of Sn available for plating. Both agitation and increased bath temperatures proved to be beneficial in terms of increasing plating rates.
Along with this prestigious award, Dr. Akhlaghi's work in the area of AuSn plating is generating orders from several customers for use in microelectronics and other packaging. Details on Micralyne's Plated AuSn Solder offering can be found on its website at http://www.micralyne.com or via a Micralyne representative at 780-431-4412.
Micralyne is a pioneer and leader in the development and OEM manufacturing of microfabricated and MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems)-based components. MEMS products enable orders of magnitude improvements in many industries including communications, automotive, and biomedical. Micralyne's MEMS solutions include lab-on-a-chip devices, sensors, and optical switch systems, which are produced for leading companies including JDS Uniphase, Kavlico Inc., and MicroCHIPS. Micralyne, founded in 1982 and privatized in 1998, is a profitable and growing company headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
