Study of Void Formation Mechanism in Electroplated SnAg Solder Bump

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (1) ◽  
pp. 000638-000643
Author(s):  
Koji Tatsumi ◽  
Akio Sakai ◽  
Syunsuke Kawai ◽  
Takuma Katase ◽  
Takashi Miyazawa ◽  
...  

Abstract SnAg electroplating method is widely used in the formation of LF solder bump for flip chip connection. While electroplating is able to form void free solder bump in a suitable operating condition, void may occur suddenly when used in mass production. This study aims at understanding the gas source in the void of electroplated SnAg solder bumps and determining the manufacturing process factors which affect the void formation. There are various types of void formation mode. One mode is H2 gas generation on cathode surface during electroplating. Both the cross-sections of solder bumps, as well as an analysis data of the gas in the void taken by the TDS (Thermal Desorption Spectrometry) were evaluated. The cross-section of the solder bump which contains void due to the reflow process revealed the existence of several tens of nm to several μm size pits in the solder bump before reflow. TDS analysis indicates that the pits consisted of mainly H2O, H2 and the decomposition of organics. A possible void formation mechanism is the evaporation of H2 gas and the incorporated electrolyte solution in the bump by reflow. These pits in the solder were caused by various process parameters. One of the causes is due to the setting of the current density in the SnAg electroplating process being inappropriate. The current density should be adjusted corresponding to the electrolyte performance and bump design such as PR thickness, opening diameter and bump density. The computer simulation demonstrated that a thick PR limits the diffusion of the Sn2+ ions into via holes and having the current density too high causes a lack of Sn2+ ions on the cathode surface and causes H2 gas generation. The other mode of void formation is Ag displacement of the under bump metallization (UBM) surface in dwell time in the SnAg electrolyte solution before the start of plating. The adjustment of each process parameter can eliminate the source of the void and achieve a high reliability of SnAg bump formation.

2015 ◽  
Vol 772 ◽  
pp. 284-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabuj Mallik ◽  
Jude Njoku ◽  
Gabriel Takyi

Voiding in solder joints poses a serious reliability concern for electronic products. The aim of this research was to quantify the void formation in lead-free solder joints through X-ray inspections. Experiments were designed to investigate how void formation is affected by solder bump size and shape, differences in reflow time and temperature, and differences in solder paste formulation. Four different lead-free solder paste samples were used to produce solder bumps on a number of test boards, using surface mount reflow soldering process. Using an advanced X-ray inspection system void percentages were measured for three different size and shape solder bumps. Results indicate that the voiding in solder joint is strongly influenced by solder bump size and shape, with voids found to have increased when bump size decreased. A longer soaking period during reflow stage has negatively affectedsolder voids. Voiding was also accelerated with smaller solder particles in solder paste.


2005 ◽  
Vol 297-300 ◽  
pp. 837-843
Author(s):  
Takashi Hasegawa ◽  
Masumi Saka

Solder is the most frequently used alloy, which serves as the bonding metal for electronics components. Recently, the interconnected bump is distinctly downsizing its bulk along with the integration of high-density packaging. The evaluation of electromigration damage for solder bumps is indispensable. Hence, it is fairly urgent to understand the mechanism of the electromigration damage to be capable of securing reliability of the solder bump and ultimately predicting its failure lifetime. Electromigration pattern in multi-phase material is determined by the combination of current density, temperature and current-applying time. In this paper, diagram of electromigration pattern (DEP) in solders is presented, where both of eutectic Pb-Sn and Pb-free solders are treated. DEP gives the basis for discussing and predicting the electromigration damage in solders.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (1) ◽  
pp. 000891-000905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Dohle ◽  
Stefan Härter ◽  
Andreas Wirth ◽  
Jörg Goßler ◽  
Marek Gorywoda ◽  
...  

As the solder bump sizes continuously decrease with scaling of the geometries, current densities within individual solder bumps will increase along with higher operation temperatures of the dies. Since electromigration of flip-chip interconnects is highly affected by these factors and therefore an increasing reliability concern, long-term characterization of new interconnect developments needs to be done regarding the electromigration performance using accelerated life tests. Furthermore, a large temperature gradient exists across the solder interconnects, leading to thermomigration. In this study, a comprehensive overlook of the long-term reliability and analysis of the achieved electromigration performance of flip-chip test specimen will be given, supplemented by an in-depth material science analysis. In addition, the challenges to a better understanding of electromigration and thermomigration in ultra fine-pitch flip-chip solder joints are discussed. For all experiments, specially designed flip-chips with a pitch of 100 μm and solder bump diameters of 30–60 μm have been used [1]. Solder spheres can be made of every lead-free alloy (in our case SAC305) and are placed on a UBM which has been realized for our test chips in an electroless nickel process [2]. For the electromigration tests within this study, multiple combinations of individual current densities and temperatures were adapted to the respective solder sphere diameters. Online measurements over a time period up to 10,000 hours with separate daisy chain connections of each test coupon provide exact lifetime data during the electromigration tests. As failure modes have been identified: UBM consumption at the chip side or depletion of the Nickel layer at the substrate side, interfacial void formation at the cathode contact interface, and - to a much lesser degree - Kirkendall-like void formation at the anode side. A comparison between calculated life time data using Weibull distribution and lognormal distribution will be given.


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 1847-1853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsiao-Yun Chen ◽  
Chih Chen

Electromigration activation energy is measured by a built-in sensor that detects the real temperature during current stressing. Activation energy can be accurately determined by calibrating the temperature using the temperature coefficient of resistivity of an Al trace. The activation energies for eutectic SnAg and SnPb solder bumps are measured on Cu under-bump metallization (UBM) as 1.06 and 0.87 eV, respectively. The activation energy mainly depends on the formation of Cu–Sn intermetallic compounds. On the other hand, the activation energy for eutectic SnAg solder bumps with Cu–Ni UBM is measured as 0.84 eV, which is mainly related to void formation in the solder.


2015 ◽  
Vol 645-646 ◽  
pp. 319-324
Author(s):  
Pei Sheng Liu ◽  
Long Long Yang ◽  
Jin Xin Hang ◽  
Ying Lu

Electro-migration has become a critical reliability issue for high density solder joints in flip chip technology, especially for current crowding and joule heat. Electro-migration force and mean time to failure of flip chip are introduced in this paper. This study employs two-dimensional simulation to investigate the distribution of current density and Joule heating in the flip chip joint. It is found that current crowding and Joule heat effect are very serious in the solder bump. The Joule heat may play important role in the void formation and thermo-migration in solder bump. And the factors that impact the distribution of current density and Joule heat are studied. The results show that the thickness of Al and UBM has great influence on the distribution of current density and Joule heat.


2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 2432-2442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.H. Chen ◽  
T.L. Shao ◽  
P.C. Liu ◽  
Chih Chen ◽  
T. Chou

Microstructural changes induced by electromigration were studied in eutectic SnAg solder bumps jointed to under-bump metallization (UBM) of Ti/Cr–Cu/Cu and pad metallization of Cu/Ni/Au. Intermetallic compounds (IMCs) and phase transformations were observed during a current stress of 1 × 104 A/cm2 at 150 °C. On the cathode/substrate side, some of the (Cuy,Ni1−y)6Sn5 transformed into (Nix,Cu1−x)3Sn4 due to depletion of Cu atoms caused by the electron flow. It is found that both the cathode/chip and anode/chip ends could be failure sites. On the cathode/chip side, the UBM dissolved after current stressing for 22 h, and failure may occur due to depletion of solder. On the anode/chip side, a large amount of (Cuy,Ni1−y)6Sn5 or (Nix,Cu1−x)3Sn4 IMCs grew at the low-current-density area due to the migration of Ni and Cu atoms from the substrate side, which may be responsible for the electromigration failure at this end.


Author(s):  
George F. Gaut

Abstract Access to the solder bump and under-fill material of flip-chip devices has presented a new problem for failure analysts. The under-fill and solder bumps have also added a new source for failure causes. A new tool has become available that can reduce the time required to analyze this area of a flip-chip package. By using precision selective area milling it is possible to remove material (die or PCB) that will allow other tools to expose the source of the failure.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (141) ◽  
pp. 140-147
Author(s):  
MIKHAIL VIKHAREV ◽  
◽  
VLADIMIR YUDIN ◽  
VESELOVSKIY NIKOLAY ◽  
◽  
...  

The article shows the role of electroplating in the restoration of parts, indicates the advantages of restoring parts with electroplating over other methods, and gives the characteristics and properties of coatings obtained by electroplating. (Research purpose) The research purpose is in increasing the speed of application of zinc electroplating when restoring parts. (Materials and methods) The cathode current density has a decisive influence on the coating speed. The main reason for limiting the cathode current density during galvanizing from sulfuric acid electrolytes is the chemical polarization of the cathode. The article presents a study on the designed installation for the application of galvanic coatings. When applying coatings to the internal surfaces of parts, there was used a device with activating elements having an electromechanical rotation drive. This device prevents depletion of the near-cathode layer of the electrolyte and reduces the chemical polarization of the cathode. Elements made of moisture-resistant skin were used as activators. (Results and discussion) The article presents the results of experiments as a dependence of the coating speed on the speed of the activator relative to the restoring surface. It also presents the relationship between the size of the abrasive grains of the activating elements, the force of their pressing against the cathode surface, the speed of movement of the activator and the speed of applying the zinc coating, as well as its quality. By activating the cathode surface, it was possible to raise the operating current density to 100-150 amperes per square decimeter. The speed of application of zinc coatings is 16-25 micrometers per minute. (Conclusions) In the course of research, authors determined the conditions of electrolysis during galvanizing, which provide a significant increase in the cathode current density and the rate of application of these coatings during the restoration of parts.


1989 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1050-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Hinode ◽  
I. Asano ◽  
Y. Homma

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