With the development of the fine pitch technology, the size of the solder bumps contacting the chip and the substrate has decreased, thereby significantly increasing the current density. As a result, intermetallic compounds (IMCs) are formed in solder bumps, and the formation/growth of Kirkendall voids is the main reason for failure, which is accelerated by electromigration. Therefore, various studies have been conducted to restrain the growth of IMCs and Kirkendall voids. This study summarizes the issues that should be considered when investigating the effects of electromigration on solder joints. The prediction and observation of the growth behavior of the IMCs is summarized for various solder bump joints. In addition, we provide an effective method for assisting the fine pitch technology.
The equation for predicting the growth behavior of intermetallic compounds (IMC) by electromigration (EM) of the Cu/ENEPIG/Sn-2.5Ag/Cu solder joint was modeled, and the actual behavior observed through experiments and the predicted behavior were compared. After reflow, (Cu, Ni)<sub>6</sub>Sn<sub>5</sub> was formed near the ENEPIG/solder interface, and Cu<sub>6</sub>Sn<sub>5</sub> was produced near the solder/Cu interface. Furthermore, Cu<sub>6</sub>Sn<sub>5</sub> islands and Ag<sub>3</sub>Sn were formed with the β-Sn matrix in the solder. The mobility of Cu, Ni, and Sn atoms at the ENEPIG/IMC/solder interface was calculated to derive a thickness variation equation of the IMC with respect to the current application time. The modeling predicted that if the current density was maintained for 250 h at 10 kA/cm<sup>2</sup>, the IMC thickness increased by 4.2 ㎛. As a result of the EM experiment, the IMC at the ENEPIG/solder interface grew by 4.2 ㎛; this exactly matched the prediction. A comparison of the thickness of the IMC layer indicated that the OSP/solder interface produced approximately 9 ㎛, and the ENEPIG/solder interface grew by approximately 4.2 ㎛. Therefore, the Ni plating layer of the ENEPIG surface treatment prevented the diffusion of Cu and suppressed the growth of IMC by approximately 50 %.
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