Environmentally conscious IC molding compound without toxic flame-retardants

A new environmentally friendly, self-extinguishing epoxy-resin compound with no flame-retardants (such as halogen derivatives) has been developed for integrated circuit (IC) packaging. This compound mainly consists of phenol-aralkyl-type epoxy resin and hardener both of which contain a multi-aromatic substituent, fused silica powder, and additives. The compound has a high flame retardancy resulting from the formation of a stable foam layer, which retards heat transfer on the surface of the resin compound during combustion. Furthermore, the compound shows other excellent characteristics as a molding compound for IC packages. In fact, its packaging-reliability characteristics, those including resistance to humidity, soldering heat, and the effects of high-temperature storage, are better than those of current molding compounds used for large-scale integration (LSI) packaging. The new molding compound has thus already been applied to IC packages such as ball grid arrays (BGAs).