Polarity effect of electromigration on kinetics of intermetallic compound formation in Pb-free solder V-groove samples

Intermetallic compound (IMC) formation is critical for the reliability of microelectronic interconnections, especially for flip chip solder joints. In this article, we investigate the polarity effect of electromigration on kinetics of IMC formation at the anode and the cathode in solder V-groove samples. We use V-groove solder line samples, with width of 100 μm and length of 500-700 μm, to study interfacial IMC growth between Cu electrodes and Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu (in wt %) solder under different current density and temperature settings. The current densities are in the range of 10³ to 10⁴ A cm² and the temperature settings are 120, 150, and 180 °C. While the same types of IMCs, Cu₆ Sn₅ and Cu₃ Sn, form at the solderCu interfaces independent of the passage of electric current, the growth of the IMC layer has been enhanced by electric current at the anode and inhibited at the cathode, in comparison with the no-current case. We present a kinetic model, based on the Cu mass transport in the sample, to explain the growth rate of IMC at the anode and cathode. The growth of IMC at the anode follows a parabolic growth rule, and we propose that the back stress induced in the IMC plays a significant role. The model is in good agreement with our experimental data. We then discuss the influence of both chemical force and electrical force, and their combined effect on the IMC growth with electric current. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.