Abstract
In this study, the effects of electromigration (EM) on the growth of Cu–Sn intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in Cu/SnBi/Cu solder joints under 5 × 103 A/cm2 direct current stressing at 308, 328, and 348 K were investigated. For each Cu/SnBi/Cu solder joint under current stressing, the IMCs at the cathode side grew faster than that at the anode side. The growth of these IMCs at the anode side and the cathode side were enhanced by electric current. The growth of these IMCs at the cathode followed a parabolic growth law. The kinetics parameters of the growth of the IMCs were calculated from the thickness data of the IMCs at the cathode side at different ambient temperatures. The calculated intrinsic diffusivity (D0) of the Cu–Sn IMCs was 9.91 × 10−5 m2/s, and the activation energy of the growth of the total Cu–Sn IMC layer was 89.2 kJ/mol (0.92 eV).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
K.J. Puttlitz, G.T. Gaylon: Impact of the ROHS directive on high-performance electronic systems. Part I: Need for lead utilization in exempt systems. J. Mater. Sci.-Mater. Electron. 18, 331 2007
K. Zeng, K.N. Tu: Six cases of reliability study of Pb-free solder joints in electronic packaging technology. Mater. Sci. Eng., R 38, 55 2002
K. Suganuma, K-S. Kim: Sn–Zn low temperature solder. J. Mater. Sci.-Mater. Electron. 18, 121 2007
H-W. Miao, J-G. Duh: Microstructure evolution in Sn–Bi and Sn–Bi–Cu solder joints under thermal aging. Mater. Chem. Phys. 71, 255 2001
K.N. Tu: Recent advances on electromigration in very-large-scale integration of interconnects. J. Appl. Phys. 94, 5451 2003
Y-S. Lai, K-M. Chen, C-L. Kao, C-W. Lee, Y-T. Chiu: Electromigration of Sn–37Pb and Sn–3Ag–1.5Cu/Sn–3Ag–0.5Cu composite flip-chip solder bumps with Ti/Ni(V)/Cu under bump metallurgy. Microelectron. Reliabil. 47, 1273 2007
J.W. Nah, F. Ren, K.N. Tu, S. Venk, G. Camara: Electromigration in Pb-free flip chip solder joints on flexible substrates. J. Appl. Phys. 99, 023520 2006
J.D. Wu, P.J. Zheng, C.W. Lee, S.C. Hung, J.J. Lee: A study in flip-chip UBM/ bump reliability with effects of SnPb solder composition. Microelectron. Reliabil. 46, 41 2006
X.F. Zhang, J.D. Guo, J.K. Shang: Abnormal polarity effect of electromigration on intermetallic compound formation in Sn–9Zn solder interconnect. Scr. Mater. 57, 513 2007
L-T. Chen, C-M. Chen: Electromigration study in the eutectic SnBi solder joint on the Ni/Au metallization. J. Mater. Res. 21, 962 2006
Q.L. Yang, J.K. Shang: Interfacial segregation of Bi during current stressing of Sn–Bi/Cu solder interconnect. J. Electron. Mater. 34, 1363 2005
C-M. Chen, L-T. Chen, Y-S. Lin: Electromigration-induced Bi segregation in eutectic SnBi solder joint. J. Electron. Mater. 36, 168 2007
B.Y. Wu, Y.C. Chan, H.W. Zhong, M.O. Alam, J.K.L. Lai: Study of the thermal stress in a Pb-free half-bump solder joint under current stressing. Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 232112 2007
S-W. Chen, C-M. Chen, W-C. Liu: Electric current effects upon the Sn–Cu and Sn–Ni interfacial reactions. J. Electron. Mater. 27, 1193 1998
C-M. Chen, S-W. Chen: Electromigration effect upon the Sn–0.7 wt% Cu/Ni and Sn–3.5 wt% Ag/Ni interfacial reactions. J. Appl. Phys. 90, 1208 2001
H. Gan, K.N. Tu: Polarity effect of electromigration on kinetics of intermetallic compound formation in Pb-free solder V-groove samples. J. Appl. Phys. 97, 063514 2005
A. Kumar, M. He, Z. Chen, P.S. Teo: Effect of electromigration on interfacial reactions between electroless Ni-P and Sn–3.5% Ag solder. Thin Solid Films 413, 462 2004
F. Ren, J-W. Nah, K.N. Tu, B.S. Xiong, L.H. Xu, J.H.L. Pang: Electromigration induced ductile-to-brittle transition in lead-free solder joints. Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 141914 2006
M.Y. Yan, J.O. Suh, F. Ren, K.N. Tu, A.V. Vairagar, S.G. Mhaisalkar, A. Krishnamoorthy: Effect of Cu3Sn coatings on electromigration lifetime improvement of Cu dual-damascene interconnects. Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 211103 2005
J.E. Garay, U. Anselmi-Tamburini, Z.A. Munir: Enhanced growth of intermetallic phases in the Ni–Ti system by current effects. Acta Mater. 51, 4487 2003
J-W. Nah, J.H. Kim, H.M. Lee, K-W. Paik: Electromigration in flip chip solder bump of 97Pb–3Sn/37Pb–63Sn combination structure. Acta Mater. 52, 129 2004
J-W. Nah, J.O. Suh, K.N. Tu, S.W. Yoon, V.S. Rao, V. Kripesh, F. Hua: Electromigration in flip chip solder joints having a thick Cu column bump and a shallow solder interconnect. J. Appl. Phys. 100, 123513 2006
T.Y. Lee, W.J. Choi, K.N. Tu, J.W. Jang, S.M. Kuo, J.K. Lin, D.R. Frear, K. Zeng, J.K. Kivilahti: Morphology, kinetics, and thermodynamics of solid-state aging of eutectic SnPb and Pb-free solders (Sn–3.5Ag, Sn–3.8Ag–0.7Cu and Sn–0.7Cu) on Cu. J. Mater. Res. 17, 291 2002
Acknowledgments
This project has been supported by CityU SRG project (Project No. 7002083). The authors are grateful to Prof. and Mrs. Brian Ralph at Brunel University for their hard work and great help.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gu, X., Yang, D., Chan, Y. et al. Effects of electromigration on the growth of intermetallic compounds in Cu/SnBi/Cu solder joints. Journal of Materials Research 23, 2591–2596 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2008.0331
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2008.0331