Review on Brazing of High Volume Faction SiCp/Al Composites for Electronic Packaging Applications

High volume faction (HFC, ≥50%) SiCp/Al composites are becoming increasingly popular as the electronic packaging materials, and the brazing of them is therefore of great practical importance. Recently, some new filler metal alloys and processes have been developed for effectively brazing the HFC SiCp/Al composites. Starting from a survey of physical and mechanical properties and fabrication process of the HFC SiCp/Al composites, the filler metal, brazing process as well as the corresponding joint microstructures and strength are reviewed for understanding their relationships in order to improve the joining technique and joint reliability. The additions of Cu, Mg and Ni into Al-Si based alloy can contribute to improve the performances of filler metal and/or joint, such as the operating temperature of filler metal, interfacial bonding and brazing seam strength. Two assisted procedures involving surface metallization and ultrasonic vibration can optimize the brazability by avoiding or removing the inevitable oxide films (Al2O3 and SiO2) on the surface of HFC SiCp/Al composites. The need of further investigations, covering optimization design of filler metal, surface metallization process as well as wettability and interfacial behavior of filler-coating-SiCp/Al substrate system are strongly underlined.