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Microstructural evolution of gold–aluminum wire-bonds

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the morphological changes that occur during annealing of Al–Au wire-bonds, by analyzing the interface region of annealed model wire-bonded samples between 5N (99.999%) Au wires and Al pads. Due to the small length scale of the intermetallic region at the interface of the bond, the analysis was done using scanning/transmission electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy. Samples were prepared using a dual-beam focused ion beam system. Microstructural characterization showed that during annealing, a Au-rich intermetallic region was formed under the bond and at the periphery of the bond. Two types of failures occurred during annealing: crack formation at the bond periphery due to an increase in volume during intermetallic growth and the formation of stresses; and oxidation of the AlAu4 phase adjacent to the Au ball, which resulted in the formation of continuous cracks between the Au ball and the intermetallic region. The characteristic void-line found inside the intermetallic region played no part in failure that occurred during exposure to elevated temperatures.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute at the Technion for use of the FIB, and I. Popov for assistance with use of the TEM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel

    Adi Karpel & Wayne D. Kaplan

  2. Kulicke & Soffa Bonding Tools, Yokneam Elite, 20692, Israel

    Giyora Gur & Ziv Atzmon

Authors
  1. Adi Karpel
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  2. Giyora Gur
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  3. Ziv Atzmon
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  4. Wayne D. Kaplan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wayne D. Kaplan.

Appendix

Appendix

 

Structure Type

Pearson Symbol

Space Group

Lattice parameters (nm)

Al3Au8 [20]

Al3Au8

hR44

\( R\overline 3 c \)

a = 0.7724 c = 4.2083

AlAu4 [19]

AlAu4

cP20

P213

a = 0.6902

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Karpel, A., Gur, G., Atzmon, Z. et al. Microstructural evolution of gold–aluminum wire-bonds. J Mater Sci 42, 2347–2357 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-007-1593-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-007-1593-y

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