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US 8,561,880 B2Granted
Forming metal preforms and metal balls
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsPeter Alfred Gruber, Paul Alfred Lauro, Jae-Woong Nah
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process and tools for forming and/or releasing metal preforms, metal shapes and solder balls is described incorporating flexible molds or sheets, injection molded metal such as solder and in the case of solder balls, a liquid or gaseous environment to reduce or remove metal oxides prior to or during metal (solder) reflow to increase surface tension to form spherical or substantially spherical solder-balls.
Claims7
A method for forming metal shapes comprising:
- selecting a substrate capable of bending to a predetermined radius of curvature;
- forming a plurality of cavities in said substrate material;
- said plurality of cavities having a first shape including cavity walls, said cavities providing a change of shape from said first shape to a second shape upon bending said substrate to a predetermined radius of curvature;
- filling said plurality of cavities with molten metal;
- cooling said molten metal in said plurality of cavities to form a solid metal of a first shape in respective cavities of said plurality of cavities;
- heating said solid metal in said respective cavities in a flux or an atmosphere to reduce or substantially reduce any metal oxides on surfaces of said solid metal;
- reflowing said solid metal in said respective cavities;
- cooling said reflowed metal to form a solid metal of a second shape in said respective cavities;
- and
- bending said substrate to said predetermined radius of curvature to form said second shape of said plurality of cavities to cause a break in the contact of said solid metal of a second shape in said respective cavities from portions of said respective cavity walls whereby said solid metal of said second shape is released from said respective cavities.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.