Adhesion promoters
Reliability boosters for lead frames preventing IC package delamination
MoldPrep for copper alloyed surfaces
Industry standard for each mold type. Roughens the copper surface through intergranular etching and significantly improves mold to Cu adhesion
AgPrep for
silver
surfaces
Non etching adhesion promoter (NEAP). Excellent heat resistance. Green and sustainable technology. Cost effective.
ppfPrep for pre-plated Ni-Pd-Au surfaces
Non etching adhesion promoter (NEAP). Green and sustainable technology. Cost effective compared to other existing technology (rough PPF)
Etch profile of a copper lead frame surface after Moldprep treatment
Surface appearance before and after Moldprep treatment
Moldprep HMC – adhesion promoter for copper alloys
Atotech’s Moldprep HMC is an industry-proven adhesion promoter for lead frames with copper surfaces. Moldprep HMC helps to boost the moisture sensitivity level of the package by 1 level and improves the overall temperature stability significantly. Moldprep HMC generates a specifically roughened surface with an etch depth of about 0.8-1.6 µm of the copper alloy. It creates an organometallic adlayer that improves the adhesion between all relevant mold compounds and the copper surfaces. Moldprep HMC contains special additives that leave the surface free of smut and assure a long lifetime.
Acoustic micrographs after a MSL 1 test on a QFN 7×7 with 48 leads
AgPrep – adhesion promotor for silver surfaces
This is an industry-proven non etching adhesion promoter (NEAP) that has been specifically designed for silver plated lead frames. Silver surfaces are primarily used to improve the wire bonding performance but lack a good adhesion to mold compounds. Our unique AgPrep process creates a chemical bond between the silver surface and all relevant mold compounds, often doubling the adhesion force in shear force test. Thereby, it significantly boosters the package reliability during moisture sensitivity tests and allows packages to survive MSL1 level combined with extreme heat exposure. It is based on sustainable chemistries and is a cost-effective process that does not require etching processes and avoids expensive waste disposal.
Acoustic micrographs of molded lead frames
ppfPrep – adhesion promoter for Nickel-Palladium-Gold surfaces
This non etching adhesion promoter (NEAP) has been specifically designed for the needs of pre-plated lead frames. ppfPrep creates a chemical bond between the NiPdAu surface and all relevant mold compounds thus improving the overall package reliability. It significantly boosters the package reliability during moisture sensitivity tests and heat exposure. It can easily be integrated into existing plating lines or even installed at IC assembly plants as it is based on sustainable chemistries. It is a cost-effective process that does not require etching processes and avoids expensive waste disposal.
What inspires us
Why we developed adhesion promoters
Your challenge
The reliability requirements especially from automotive industries are getting tougher and tougher. For many lead frame-based packages they go beyond MSL 1 (moisture sensitivity level) and add additional high-temperature storage. That in turn often leads to delamination issues between the metal surfaces and the mold that should seal the IC package. These delamination spots are then starting points for corrosion phenomena reducing the overall package reliability. Hence, adhesion promoters are necessary to reliably overcome these issues without impairing the related processes like wire bonding, die attach, etc.
Our solution
We are offering tailor-made solutions for the three different surfaces that are mainly used for lead frames thus ensuring the best possible solutions. For copper, we developed a long-life process that is based on a special roughening process that creates an organometallic adlayer. For the expensive silver and Ni-Pd-Au surfaces we took a different route and created unique non etching adhesion promoters that work through building real chemical bonds between the molds and the surfaces. This not only saves expensive metal but significantly improves the overall adhesion and leads to so far unparalleled reliability improvements for the IC packages.
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