Accelerated reliability testing of integrated circuit (IC) packages, such as wire-bonded devices, is a useful tool for predicting the lifetime corrosion behavior of real-world devices. Standard tests, such as highly accelerated stress test, involves subjecting an encapsulated device to high levels of humidity and high temperature (commonly 85–121 ⁰C and 85–100% relative humidity). A major drawback of current reliability tests is that mechanistic information of what occurs between
t
= 0 and device failure is not captured. A novel method of in-situ investigation of the device corrosion process was developed to capture the real time mechanistic information not obtained in standard reliability testing
[1]
. The simple, yet effective methodology involves:
Immersing a micropattern or device directly into contaminant-spiked aqueous solution, and observing its morphological changes under optical microscope paired with a camera.
Short (2–48 h) time required for testing (compared to 24–300 h of standard tests).
No need for humidity chambers.
Copper (Cu) is the metal of choice for the redistribution layer (RDL) to facilitate fast I/O communication in an integrated circuit (IC). Cu can electrochemically migrate (ECM) between the array of electrodes under bias, electrolyte, and moisture. IC packages fail miserably when exposed to various ion impurities and moisture. Copper at the anode dissolves to form Cu+1, +2 ions. As the anodic dissolution continues, the concentration of copper ion increases. These anions deposit on cathode leading to Cu dendrite formation. To achieve the near zero ppb defectivity goal, elimination of (ECM) defects in packaged devices is critical. This work discusses development of a novel Cu-selective passivation and a method to accelerate reliability testing. A hydrophobic passivation with minimum stress to the IC package is proposed in this work. The new passivation coating is thermally stable, strongly adheres to Cu, corrosion resistant, low cost and shows good potential to prevent ECM defects. The coated packaged devices were tested by an accelerated PEG drop test (PDT) to explore its ECM prevention capabilities.
In most current wire-bonding applications, electrical interconnection is accomplished by fine Cu wires bonded to Al bonding pads microfabricated on an IC chip and external contact pins of the PCB board. Corrosion-related failure defects between the Cu wire and Al bond pad have been an ongoing un-trackable reliability issue plaguing the IC packaging industry for the past ten years, despite approaching ppb levels. Most prior studies hypothesized that intermetallic compounds (IMCs) like Cu9Al4, and CuAl2 were responsible for the observed acute wire-bond lift-off corrosion defects. Further studies sought to quantify the rates of corrosion of these IMCs and explore the effects of mitigation efforts of adding Pd, relevant to Pd-coated Cu wire-bonding. However, utilizing a novel real-time corrosion screening approach, we previously established that peripheral bimetallic contact between Cu ball-bonds and Al bond pads also plays a substantial role in the aggressive Al pad corrosion, induced by chloride ion penetration, which often leads to device failure. In this work, we further explored the role of IMCs corrosion in wire-bond lift-off failure utilizing fundamental electrochemical studies to quantify rates of galvanic-induced corrosion of IMCs within the broader context of an interconnected stack of Al bond pad, Cu-Al IMCs and Cu bonding wire. We also explored the use of a corrosion inhibitor to suppress the galvanic corrosion currents of Al bond pad, and Al-rich IMCs when electrically connected to Cu wire or Cu-rich IMCs.
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