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Effect of substrates on the formation of Kirkendall voids in Sn/Cu joints

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Abstract

The reliability of flip-chip Sn/Cu solder joint strongly depends on Kirkendall voids, since it affects the mechanical properties of the solder joints. In this paper, the formation of Kirkendall voids (KVs) at the interface of Sn/Cu joints was investigated by changing various Cu substrates, namely, high-purity Cu (HP Cu), electroplated Cu (EP Cu), and vacuumed-sputtered Cu (VS Cu). It is found that the KVs did not appear at the Sn/HP Cu interface even after aging at 180 °C for 720 h. A large number of voids were observed at the Cu3Sn/Cu interface in Sn/EP Cu and Sn/VS Cu joints during a short aging time. The size of voids formed in the Sn/EP Cu was larger relative to that in Sn/VS Cu. The formation of different voids at the Sn/Cu joints can be attributed to three factors, i.e., diffusion paths for Cu atoms increased from Sn/HP Cu, Sn/EP Cu, and Sn/VS Cu, different impurities (S, Cl, et al.) in Cu substrates, and different stress states at the Cu3Sn/Cu interface.

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Funding

This project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51805316 and 51605276), Shanghai Science and Technology Development Funds (18FY1424900), and Shanghai Science and Technology Committee Innovation Grant (17JC1400600 and 17JC1400601).

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Correspondence to Jieshi Chen.

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Recommended for publication by Commission VII - Microjoining and Nanojoining

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Chen, J., Yang, J., Zhang, Y. et al. Effect of substrates on the formation of Kirkendall voids in Sn/Cu joints. Weld World 63, 751–757 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-019-00704-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-019-00704-5

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