Metal–metal bonding using silver/copper nanoparticles

A method for producing nanoparticles composed of silver and copper and a metal–metal bonding technique using the silver/copper nanoparticles are proposed. The method consists of three steps. First, copper oxide nanoparticles are produced by mixing Cu(NO3)2 aqueous solution and NaOH aqueous solution. Second, copper metal nanoparticles are fabricated by reducing the copper oxide nanoparticles with hydrazine in the presence of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP). Third, silver/copper nanoparticles are synthesized by reducing Ag+ ions with hydrazine in the presence of the copper metal nanoparticles. Initial concentrations in the final silver/copper particle colloid, composed of 0.0075 M Cu2+, 0.0025 M Ag+, 1.0 g/L PVP, and 0.6 M hydrazine, produced silver/copper nanoparticles with an average size of 49 nm and a crystal size of 16.8 nm. Discs of copper metal were successfully bonded by the silver/copper nanoparticles under annealing at 400 °C and pressurizing at 1.2 MPa for 5 min in not only hydrogen gas but also nitrogen gas. The shear force required to separate the bonded discs was 22.3 MPa for the hydrogen gas annealing and 14.9 MPa for the nitrogen gas annealing (namely, 66.8 % of that for hydrogen gas annealing).