《01 Nanopackaging- Nanotechnologies and Electronics Packaging》.pdf

Chapter 1 Nanopackaging: Nanotechnologies and Electronics Packaging James E. Morris 1.1 Introduction It often seems that the promise of nanotechnology’s impact on everyone’s quality of life is as overhyped as past promises of endless cheap energy from cold fusion and high-temperature superconductivity. But there are two major differences. While the term “nanotechnology” has caught the attention of industry, legislators, and research funding agencies, in most cases the technologies in question are rooted in steady research progress in the field in question, as fabrication and char- acterization techniques have steadily conquered ever smaller dimensions, with the parallel development of theory to explain and model the new phenomena exposed. Furthermore, nanotechnologies have already yielded everyday consumer benefits beyond stain-resistant clothing and transparent sunblock. So, it is hardly surprising to discover active research and development programs in nanotechnology applica- tions to electronics packaging, with special nanotechnology sessions at electronics packaging research conferences and research journal papers demonstrating the range and progress of these applications. The definition of nanotechnology is usually taken to be where the size of the functional element falls below 100 nm or 0.1 µm. Of course, according to this defi- nition, and with 45-nm CMOS in production, the nanoelectronics era is already here. Furthermore, with metallic grain sizes typically below this limit, one might also argue that solder has always qualified as a