Mechanical and electrical cold bonding based on metallic nanowire surface fasteners.

Mass production of surface mount devices (SMDs) relies heavily on reflow soldering and has become the cornerstone of today's electronic industry. However, the traditional reflow soldering technique is characterized by high heating temperatures, toxic solder materials and low recycling rate of SMDs. Here, we propose a new patterned structure of Au nanowire arrays named a surface fastener through which cold bonding for surface mount technology can be realized. The mechanical bonding enables normal and shear bonding strengths of more than 5 N cm(-2). Simultaneously, the parasitic resistance of a pair of surface fasteners is only approximately 2 Ω. The present technique can be performed at room temperature, thereby improving the process compatibility and reliability of SMDs. Surface fasteners based on high melting point metallic nanowires are temperature-resistant for many critical applications. In addition, bonding without solder material is positive for the recycling of rare metals in SMDs.