• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 2010

Thermal annealing and electromigration test were performed at $150^{\circ}C$ and $4{\times}10^3\;A/cm^2$ conditions in order to investigate the effect of PCB surface finishs on the growth kinetics of intermetallic compound (IMC) in Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder bump. The surface finishes of the electrodes of printed circuit board (PCB) were organic solderability preservation (OSP), immersion Sn, and electroless Ni/immersion gold (ENIG). During thermal annealing, the OSP and immersion Sn show similar IMC growth velocity, while ENIG surface finish had much slower IMC growth velocity. Applying electric current accelerated IMC growth velocity and showed polarity effect due to directional electron flow.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.195-202
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• 2003

In this study, failure mechanisms of Au stud bumps/ACF flip chip joints were investigated underhigh current stressing condition. For the determination of allowable currents, I-V tests were performed on flip chip joints, and applied currents were measured as high as almost 4.2Amps $(4.42\times10^4\;Amp/cm^2)$. Degradation of flip chip joints was observed by in-situ monitoring of Au stud bumps-Al pads contact resistance. All failures, defined at infinite resistance, occurred at upward electron flow (from PCB pads to chip pads) applied bumps (UEB). However, failure did not occur at downward electron flow applied bumps (DEB). Only several $m\Omega$ contact resistance increased because of Au-Al intermetallic compound (IMC) growth. This polarity effect of Au stud bumps was different from that of solder bumps, and the mechanism was investigated by the calculation of chemical and electrical atomic flux. According to SEM and EDS results, major IMC phase was $Au_5Al_2$, and crack propagated along the interface between Au stud bump and IMC resulting in electrical failures at UEB. Therefore. failure mechanisms at Au stud bump/ACF flip chip Joint undo high current density condition are: 1) crack propagation, accompanied with Au-Al IMC growth. reduces contact area resulting in contact resistance increase; and 2) the polarity effect, depending on the direction of electrons. induces and accelerates the interfacial failure at UEBs.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.85-90
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• 2011

With regard to reliability of solder joint, the significant failures include open defects that occurs from alignment problem, Head in Pillow by PCB's warpage, the crack of solder by CTE mismatch, and the crack of IMC layer by mechanical impact. Especially as PCB down-sizing and surface finish is under progress, brittle failure of IMC layer between solder bump and PCB pad becomes a big issue. Therefore, it requires enhancing the level of difficulty in the existing assessment method and improving the measurement through the study on the mechanism of IMC formation, growth and brittle failure. Under this circumstance, this study is intended to suggest the direction of research for improving the reliability on the crack such as improvement of IMC brittle fracture.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.59-64
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• 2013

In-situ annealing tests of Cu/Ni/Au/Sn-Ag/Cu micro-bump for 3D IC package were performed in an scanning electron microscope chamber at $135-170^{\circ}C$ in order to investigate the growth kinetics of intermetallic compound (IMC). The IMC growth behaviors of both $Cu_3Sn$ and $(Cu,Ni,Au)_6Sn_5$ follow linear relationship with the square root of the annealing time, which could be understood by the dominant diffusion mechanism. Two IMC phases with slightly different compositions, that is, $(Cu,Au^a)_6Sn_5$ and $(Cu,Au^b)_6Sn_5$ formed at Cu/solder interface after bonding and grew with increased annealing time. By the way, $Cu_3Sn$ and $(Cu,Au^b)_6Sn_5$ phases formed at the interfaces between $(Cu,Ni,Au)_6Sn_5$ and Ni/Sn, respectively, and both grew with increased annealing time. The activation energies for $Cu_3Sn$ and $(Cu,Ni,Au)_6Sn_5$ IMC growths during annealing were 0.69 and 0.84 eV, respectively, where Ni layer seems to serve as diffusion barrier for extensive Cu-Sn IMC formation which is expected to contribute to the improvement of electrical reliability of micro-bump.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.89-96
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• 2000

As solder becomes small and fine, the reliability and solderability of solder joint are the critical issue in present electronic packaging industry. Besides the use of lead(Pb) containing solders for the interconnections of microelectronic subsystem assembly and packaging has enviromental problem. In this study, using Sn/Pb and Sn/Ag eutectic solder paste, in order to obtain decrease of solder joint strength with increasing aging time, initial solder joint strength and aging strength after 1000 hour aging at $100^{\circ}C$ were measured by peel test. And in order to obtain the growth of intermetallic compound(IMC) layer thickness, IMC layer thickness was measured by scanning electron microscope(SEM). As a result, solder joint strength was decreased with increasing aging time. The mean IMC layer thickness was increased linearly with the square root of aging time. The diffusion coefficient(D) of IMC layer was found to $1.29{\times}10^{-13}{\;}cm^2/s$ at using Sn/Pb solder paste, 7.56{\times}10^{-14}{\textrm}{cm}^2/s$ at using Sn/Ag solder paste.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.82-88
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• 2007

Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu lead fee solder was generally utilized in electronics assemblies. But it is insufficient to research about activation energy(Q) that is applying to evaluate the solder joint reliability of environmental friendly electronics assemblies. Therefore this study investigated Q values which are needed to IMC formation and growth of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu/Cu and Sn-40pb/Cu solder joints during aging treatment. We bonded Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu and Sn-40Pb solders on FR-4 PCB with Cu pad$(t=80{\mu}m)$. After reflow soldering, to observe the IMC formation and growth of the solder joints, test specimens were aged at 70, 150 and $170^{\circ}C$ for 1, 2, 5, 20, 60, 240, 960, 15840, 28800 and 43200 min, respectively. SEM and EDS were utilized to analysis the IMCS. From these results, we measured the total IMC$(Cu_6Sn_5+Cu_3Sn)$ thickness of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu/Cu and Sn-40Pb/Cu interface, and then obtained Q values for the IMC$(Cu_6Sn_5,\;Cu_3Sn)$ growth of the solder joints.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.64-72
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• 2023

In this study, after transferring graphene on a Cu substrate and printing a Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu Pb-free solder paste on the Cu substrate, effects of the transferred graphene on formations and growths of intermetallic compound (IMC) at the interface between the Cu substrate and the solder were reported during processes of reflow soldering and isothermal aging for 1000 h with various temperatures (125, 150, and 175 ℃). Thicknesses of Cu₆Sn₅ and Cu₃Sn IMCs at the interfaces with graphene were decreased during the reflow soldering and isothermal aging processes compared to those without graphene. The transferred graphene layers also showed that the growth rate constant and square of growth rate constant which related to the growth mechanisms of Cu₆Sn₅ and Cu₃Sn IMCs with t he t emperature a nd t ime of t he i sothermal aging c ould dramatically decreased.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2008

Microstructural evolution and the intermetallic compound (IMC) growth kinetics in an Au stud bump were studied via isothermal aging at 120, 150, and $180^{\circ}C$ for 300hrs. The $AlAu_4$ phase was observed in an Al pad/Au stud interface, and its thickness was kept constant during the aging treatment. AuSn, $AuSn_2,\;and\;AuSn_4$ phases formed at interface between the Au stud and Sn. $AuSn_2,\;AuSn_2/AuSn_4$, and AuSn phases dominantly grew as the aging time increased at $120^{\circ}C,\;150^{\circ}C,\;and\;180^{\circ}C$, respectively, while $(Au,Cu)_6Sn_5/Cu_3Sn$ phases formed at Sn/Cu interface with a negligible growth rate. Kirkendall voids formed at $AlAu_4/Au$, Au/Au-Sn IMC, and $Cu_3Sn/Cu$ interfaces and propagated continuously as the time increased. The apparent activation energy for the overall growth of the Au-Sn IMC was estimated to be 1.04 eV.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.267-271
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• 2004

The joint strength and fracture surface of Sn-Pb solder bump in photo diode packages after isothermal aging testing were studied experimentally. Cu/Sn-Pb solders were adopted, and aged for up to 900 hours at 12$0^{\circ}C$ and 17$0^{\circ}C$ to analyze the effect of intermetallic compound(IMC). In 900-hour aging experiments, the maximum shea strength of Sn-Pb solder decreased by 20％ and 9％. The diffraction patterns of Cu$_{6}$Sn$_{5}$, scallop-shape IMC, and planar-shape Cu$_3$Sn were observed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).EM).

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2008

The interfacial reactions and shear strength of pure Sn solder bump were investigated with different under bump metallizations (UBMs) and reflow numbers. Two different UBMs were employed in this study: Cu and Ni. Cu6Sn5 and Cu3Sn intermetallic compounds (IMCs) were formed at the bump/Cu UBM interface, whereas only a Ni3Sn4 IMC was formed at the bump/Ni UBM interface. These IMCs grew with increasing reflow number. The growth of the Cu-Sn IMCs was faster than that of the Ni-Sn IMC. These interfacial reactions greatly affected the shear properties of the bumps.