1. Impact of Thermal Variations on the Fatigue and Fracture of Bi-Material Interfaces (Polyimide–EMC, Polyimide–SiO 2 , and Silicon–EMC) Found in Microchips.
- Author
-
Videira, Pedro F. C., Ferreira, Renato A., Maleki, Payam, Akhavan-Safar, Alireza, Carbas, Ricardo J. C., Marques, Eduardo A. S., Karunamurthy, Bala, and da Silva, Lucas F. M.
- Subjects
THERMAL stresses ,FRACTURE mechanics ,YOUNG'S modulus ,STRESS concentration ,THERMAL fatigue ,HYGROTHERMOELASTICITY - Abstract
As the trend towards the densification of integrated circuit (IC) devices continues, the complexity of interfaces involving dissimilar materials and thermo-mechanical interactions has increased. Highly integrated systems in packages now comprise numerous thin layers made from various materials. The interfaces between these different materials represent a vulnerable point in ICs due to imperfect adhesion and stress concentrations caused by mismatches in thermo-mechanical properties such as Young's modulus, coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE), and hygro-swelling-induced expansion. This study investigates the impact of thermal variations on the fracture behavior of three bi-material interfaces used in semiconductor packaging: epoxy molding compound–silicon (EMC–Si), silicon oxide–polyimide (SiO
2 –PI), and PI–EMC. Using double cantilever beam (DCB) tests, we analyzed these interfaces under mode I loading at three temperatures: −20 °C, 23 °C, and 100 °C, under both quasi-static and cyclic loading conditions. This provided a comprehensive analysis of the thermal effects across all temperature ranges in microelectronics. The results show that temperature significantly alters the failure mechanism. For SiO2 –PI, the weakest point shifts from silicon at low temperatures to the interface at higher temperatures due to thermal stress redistribution. Additionally, the fracture energy of the EMC–Si interface was found to be highly temperature-dependent, with values ranging from 0.136 N/mm at low temperatures to 0.38 N/mm at high temperatures. SiO2 –PI's fracture energy at high temperature was 42% less than that of EMC–Si. The PI–EMC interface exhibited nearly double the crack growth rate compared to EMC–Si. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the fracture behavior of bi-material interfaces, offering practical applications for improving the reliability and design of semiconductor devices, especially in chip packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2025
- Full Text
- View/download PDF