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Investigation of copper plated-through-holes in glass fiber reinforced epoxy substrates using AC impedance spectroscopy

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Abstract

AC impedance spectroscopy was used to investigate copper plated-through-holes (PTH) in glass fiber reinforced epoxy substrates (FR4) at different stages of temperature-humidity-bias driven electrochemical migration failure. The test vehicles consisted of PTHs arranged in an alternate anode and cathode configuration in FR4 boards. The test vehicles were subjected to accelerated stress testing [130 °C, 85 % relative humidity (RH) and 100 V DC] to initiate a specific sub-surface electrochemical failure mode referred to as conductive anodic filament (CAF) formation. The test vehicle variations included a control with no exposure, test vehicle with electrical insulation failure (resistance change to 1 MΩ during the test) and test vehicle with initiation of CAF to compare the impedance characteristics at different stages of electrochemical migration failure. AC impedance measurements were carried out on the test vehicle variations at ambient and in an in situ humidity chamber as a function of RH at 14–85 %. The prior exposure condition of the test vehicles was found to have a strong effect on the impedance characteristics at different RH values. The accelerated testing results and impedance characteristics of the PTHs in epoxy-glass fiber substrates are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the faculty and staff at the 3D Systems Packaging Research Center, Georgia Tech for their valuable suggestions and assistance with this study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 3D Systems Packaging Research Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0250, USA

    Koushik Ramachandran, Timothy Huang, Venky Sundaram & Rao Tummala

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0245, USA

    Koushik Ramachandran, Timothy L. Pruyn, Timothy Huang, Yushu Wang, Preet M. Singh, W. Jud Ready, Rosario A. Gerhardt & Rao Tummala

  3. Georgia Tech Research Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0286, USA

    W. Jud Ready

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  1. Koushik Ramachandran
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  2. Timothy L. Pruyn
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  4. Yushu Wang
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  5. Preet M. Singh
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  6. W. Jud Ready
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  8. Venky Sundaram
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  9. Rao Tummala
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Correspondence to Koushik Ramachandran.

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Ramachandran, K., Pruyn, T.L., Huang, T. et al. Investigation of copper plated-through-holes in glass fiber reinforced epoxy substrates using AC impedance spectroscopy. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 26, 2563–2570 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-2723-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-2723-y

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