MORPHOLOGY OF ORGANIC-INORGANIC HYBRID COMPOSITES IN THIN-FILMS AS MULTICHIP PACKAGING MATERIAL

Silica-polyimide hybrid composites were prepared via a sol-gel process and thermal imidization. Two different types of soluble precursors, p oly(amic acid) (PAA) and poly(amic diethyl ester) (ES), chemically con vertible to poly(p-phenylene biphenyltetracarboximide), were used as o rganic polymer matrix component, and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), convert ible to silica, as the inorganic component. The structure of composite s prepared as thin films was investigated by means of small-angle X-ra y scattering, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy . Nanometre-scale composites were successfully obtained for less than or equal to 30 wt% TEOS-loaded mixtures with ES and PAA. It was consid ered from the microstructural investigation that the composite films b ased on ES were not significantly affected by the inorganic particles generated, maintaining the structure of the homopolyimide, while those based on PAA did not preserve the structure due to the nanoparticles grown in situ during the sol-gel process.