The Effect of Sn Orientation on Intermetallic Compound Growth in Idealized Sn-Cu-Ag Interconnects

The work reported here explores the influence of crystal orientation on the growth of the interfacial intermetallic layer during electromigration in Cu||Sn||Cu solder joints. The samples were thin, planar Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) solder layers between Cu bars subject to a uniaxial current. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was used to characterize the microstructure before and after testing. The most useful representation of the EBSD data identifies the Sn grain orientation by the angle between the Sn c -axis and the current direction. The tested samples included single-crystal joints with c -axis nearly parallel to the current (“green” samples) and with c -axis perpendicular to the current (“red” samples). At current density of 10 4 A/cm 2 (steady-state temperature of ~150°C), an intermetallic layer grew at an observable rate in the “green” samples, but not in the “red” ones. A current density of 1.15 × 10 4 A/cm 2 (temperature ~160°C) led to measurable intermetallic growth in both samples. The growth fronts were nearly planar and the growth rates constant (after an initial incubation period); the growth rates in the “green” samples were about 10× those in the “red” samples. The Cu concentrations were constant within the joints, showing that the intermetallic growth is dominated by the electromigration flux. The measured growth rates and literature values for the diffusion of Cu in Sn were used to extract values for the effective charge, z * , that governs the electromigration of Cu. The calculated value of z * is significantly larger for current perpendicular to the c -axis than along it.