Nanoindentation creep on Cu3Sn, Cu6Sn5 and (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 intermetallic compounds grown in electrodeposited multilayered thin film

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 1258 - 1263
• Main Authors: Haseeb, A. S. M. A., Rahman, Abu Zayed Mohammad Saliqur, Chia, Pay Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Copper; Creep strength; Intermetallic compounds; Materials Science; Multilayered thin films; Nanoindentation; Nickel compounds; Optical and Electronic Materials; Strain rate; Thin films; Tin
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-017-8030-z

Tin-based multilayered thin films were fabricated for application in three dimensional microelectronic packaging as joining materials. During device fabrication and application, interconnecting materials can be fully converted to intermetallic compounds (IMCs). As known, IMCs are generally brittle and associated with void formation which can make interconnection in the microelectronic devices vulnerable. In an effort to improve the reliability of the Sn–Cu based IMC, ultra thin layers of Ni (70 nm) were inserted into Cu/Sn system. Electrochemical deposition technique was used to fabricate the samples. Isothermal aging at 150 °C for 168 h was performed to grow the IMCs at required thickness for measuring creep by nanoindentation. Creep strain rate was calculated from experimental data. Creep resistance was significantly improved after adding the small amount of Ni in Cu/Sn multilayered thin film system.