Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T01:30:01.272Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Plastic deformation processes in Cu/Sn bimetallic films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

K.S. Kumar ,
L. Reinbold ,
A.F. Bower  and
E. Chason
K.S. Kumar*
Affiliation:
Division of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912
L. Reinbold
Affiliation:
Division of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912
A.F. Bower
Affiliation:
Division of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912
E. Chason
Affiliation:
Division of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: Sharvan_Kumar@brown.edu This author was an editor of this journal during the review and decision stage. For the JMR policy on review and publication of manuscripts authored by editors, please refer to http://www.mrs.org/jmr_policy
Get access

Abstract

Although the driving force for the growth of Sn whiskers from the surface of Sn coatings on copper is thought to be internally generated stress due to the formation of Cu6Sn5 at the Cu/Sn interface, little is known about the nature of this internal stress and how it cracks the surface Sn oxide (an important precursor to whisker formation). Arguments based on elasticity alone do not appear to be sufficient and suggest an important role for plastic deformation. Direct observations, made by transmission electron microscopy of cross-sectioned bimetallic Cu/Sn thin-film specimens, confirm plastic deformation of the Sn grains due to the formation of Cu6Sn5. Dislocation motion and pile-up at the surface Sn oxide, rotation associated with subgrain boundary formation, interaction of the subgrain boundaries with the Sn surface, and diffusional processes are various mechanisms that can produce stress at the Sn surface and crack the Sn oxide.

Keywords

DislocationsSnTransmission electron microscopy (TEM)
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 23 , Issue 11 , November 2008 , pp. 2916 - 2934
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1Ellis, W.C., Gibbons, D.F., Treuting, R.C.: Growth of metal whiskers from the solid in Growth and Perfection of Crystals edited by R.H. Doremus, B.W. Roberts, and D. Turnbull John Wiley New York 1958 102–120Google Scholar
2Britton, S.C.: Spontaneous growth of whiskers on tin coatings: 20 years of observation. Trans. Inst. Met. Finish. 52, 95 1974Google Scholar
3Baker, R.G.: Spontaneous metallic whisker growth. Plat. Surf. Finish. 74(11), 12 1987Google Scholar
4Cobb, H.L.: Cadmium whiskers. Mon. Rev. Am. Electroplat. Soc. 33, 28 1946Google Scholar
5Lindborg, U.: Observations on the growth of whisker crystals from zinc electroplate. Metall. Trans. A 6, 1581 1975Google Scholar
6Lindborg, U.: A model for the spontaneous growth of zinc, cadmium and tin whiskers. Acta Metall. 24, 181 1976Google Scholar
7Frank, F.C.: On tin whiskers. Philos. Mag. 44, 851 1953Google Scholar
8Eshelby, J.D.: A tentative theory of metallic whisker growth. Phys. Rev. 91, 755 1953CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Peach, M.O.: Mechanism of growth of whiskers on cadmium. J. Appl. Phys. 23, 1401 1952Google Scholar
10Amelinckx, S., Bontinck, W., Dekeyser, W., Seitz, F.: On the formation and properties of helical dislocations. Philos. Mag. 2, 355 1957CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Lee, B.Z., Lee, D.N.: Spontaneous growth mechanism of tin whiskers. Acta Metall. 46, 3701 1998Google Scholar
12Tu, K.N.: Interdiffusion and reaction in bimetallic Cu–Sn thin films. Acta Metall. 21, 347 1973CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Tu, K.N., Thompson, R.D.: Kinetics of interfacial reaction in bimetallic Cu-Sn thin films. Acta Metall. 30, 947 1982CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14Tu, K.N.: Irreversible processes of spontaneous whisker growth in bimetallic Cu–Sn thin film reactions. Phys. Rev. B 49, 2030 1994CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Tu, K.N.: Cu/Sn interfacial reactions: Thin-film case versus bulk case. Mater. Chem. Phys. 46, 217 1996Google Scholar
16Nordwall, B.D.: Air Force links radar problems to growth of tin. Whiskers. Aviation Week Space Technol., June 30,65 1986Google Scholar
17Felps, B.: Whiskers caused satellite failure: Galaxy IV outage blamed on interstellar phenomenon. Wireless Week, May 17 1999Google Scholar
18Richardson, J., Lasley, B.: Tin whisker initiated vacuum metal arcing in spacecraft electronics in Proc. 1992 Government Microcircuit Applications Conference, GOMAC-92, Las Vegas, NV, November 10–12 1992 Vol. XVIII, 119–122Google Scholar
19Corbid, L.: Constraints on the use of tin plate in miniature electronic packages in Proc. 3rd International SAMPE Electronics Conference, Los Angeles CA, June 20–22 1989 773–779Google Scholar
20Silverstein, S.: Reasons for failure lost with Galaxy 4. Space News, Aug. 17–23,19 1998Google Scholar
21Boettinger, W.J., Johnson, C.E., Bendersky, L.A., Moon, K-W., Williams, M.E., Stafford, G.R.: Whisker and Hillock formation on Sn, Sn–Cu and Sn–Pb electrodeposits. Acta Mater. 53, 5033 2005Google Scholar
22Glazunova, V.K.: A Study of the influence of certain factors on the growth of filamentary tin crystals. Kristallografiya 7(5), 761 1962Google Scholar
23Dunn, B.D.: A laboratory study of tin whisker growth. European Space Agency (ESA) Report STR-223 ESA, Paris, France 1987 1–50Google Scholar
24Tsuji, K.: Role of grain boundary free energy and surface free energy for tin whisker growth in Proc. of the IPC/JEDEC 4th Intl. Conf. on Lead-Free Electronic Components and Assemblies, Frankfurt, Germany, October 21–22 2003 169–186Google Scholar
25Boguslavsky, I., Bush, P.: Recrystallization principles applied to whisker growth in tin in Proc. 2003 APEX Conf., Anaheim, CA 2003 S12-4-1–S12-4-10Google Scholar
26Barsoum, M.W., Hoffman, E.N., Doherty, R.D., Gupta, S., Zavaliangos, A.: Driving force and mechanism for spontaneous metal whisker formation. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 206104-1 2004Google Scholar
27Xu, C., Zhang, Y., Fan, C., Abys, J.A.: Driving force for the formation of Sn whiskers: Compressive stress—Pathways for its generation and remedies for its elimination and minimization. IEEE Trans. Electron. Packaging Manuf. 28, 31 2005Google Scholar
28Xu, C., Zhang, Y., Fan, C., Abys, J.: Understanding whisker phenomenon: The driving force for whisker formation. CircuiTree Mag.,94 2002Google Scholar
29Zhang, W., Egli, A., Schwager, F., Brown, N.: Investigation of Sn–Cu intermetallic compounds by AFM: New aspects of the role of intermetallic compounds in whisker formation. IEEE Trans. Electron. Packaging Manuf. 28, 85 2005Google Scholar
30Choi, W.J., Lee, T.Y., Tu, K.N., Tamura, N., Celestre, R.S., MacDowell, A.A., Bong, Y.Y., Nguyen, L.: Tin whiskers studied by synchrotron radiation scanning x-ray micro-diffraction. Acta Mater. 51, 6253 2003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31Xu, C., Zhang, Y., Fan, C., Abys, J., Hopkins, L., Stevie, F.: Understanding whisker phenomenon, driving force for the whisker formation in Proc. IPC SMEMA Council APEX 2002, New Orleans, LA, November 3–7 2002 S06-2-1–S06-2-6Google Scholar
32Sheng, G.T.T., Hu, C.F., Choi, W.J., Tu, K.N., Bong, Y.Y., Nguyen, L.: Tin whiskers studied by focused ion beam imaging and transmission electron microscopy. J. Appl. Phys. 92, 64 2002Google Scholar
33Fisher, R.M., Darken, L.S., Carroll, K.G.: Accelerated growth of tin whiskers. Acta Metall. 2, 368 1954Google Scholar
34Hasiguti, R.R.: A tentative explanation of the accelerated growth of tin whiskers. Acta Metall. 3, 200 1955CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35Williams, M.E., Johnson, C.E., Moon, K.W., Stafford, G.R., Handwerker, C.A., Boettinger, W.J.: Whisker formation on electroplated SnCu in Proc. AESF SUR/FIN Conf., Chicago, IL 2002 31–39Google Scholar
36Tu, K.N., Zeng, K.: Reliability issues of Pb-free solder joints in electronic packaging technology in Proc. 52nd IEEE Electron. Comp. & Tech. Conf., San Diego, CA, May 28–31 2002 1194–1199Google Scholar
37Lee, J. Chang-Bing, Yao, Y-L., Chiang, F-Y., Zheng, P.J., Liao, C.C., Chou, Y.S.: Characterization study of lead-free SnCu plated packages in Proc. IEEE Electron. Comp. & Tech. Conf., San Diego, CA, May 28–31 2002 1238–1245Google Scholar
38Zhang, Y., Xu, C., Fan, C., Abys, J., Vysotskaya, A.: Understanding whisker phenomenon, whisker index and tin/copper, tin/nickelinterface in Proc. IPC SMEMA Council APEX 2002, New Orleans, LA, November 3–7 2002 S06-1-1–S06-1-10Google Scholar
39Zhang, Y., Fan, C., Xu, C., Khaselev, O., Abys, J.A.: Tin whisker growth-substrate effect: Understanding CTE mismatch and IMC formation. Paper presented at IPC Printed Circuits Expo, SMEMA Council APEX Designers Summit (February 24–26, 2004Google Scholar
40Galyon, G.T., Palmer, L.: An integrated theory of whisker formation: The physical metallurgy of whisker formation and the role of internal stresses. IEEE Trans. Elect. Packaging Manuf. 28, 17 2005Google Scholar
41Eshelby, J.D.: The elastic field outside an ellipsoidal inclusion. Proc. R. Soc. London A 252, 561 1959Google Scholar
42Chason, E., Floro, J.A.: Measurements of stress evolution during thin film growth in Materials Reliability in Microelectronics VI edited by W.F. Filter, J.J. Clement, A.S. Oates, R. Rosenberg, and P.M. Lenahan Mater. Res. Symp. Proc. 428, Pittsburgh, PA 1996 499Google Scholar
43Floro, J.A., Chason, E.: Curvature based techniques for real-time stress measurements during thin film growth in In-Situ Characterization of Thin Film Growth Processes edited by A. Krauss and O. Auciello John Wiley, New York 2000 191Google Scholar
44Smith, E., Nutting, J.: Direct carbon replicas from metal surfaces. Br. J. Appl. Phys. 7, 214 1956CrossRefGoogle Scholar
45Mayer, J., Giannuzzi, L.A., Kamino, T., Michael, J.: TEM sample preparation and FIB-induced damage. MRS Bull. 32(5), 400 2007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
46Sobeich, M., Welzel, U., Schuster, R., Mittemeijer, E.J., Hugel, W., Seekamp, A., Muller, V.: The microstructure and state of stress of Sn thin films after post-plating annealing: An explanation for the suppression of whisker formation? in Proceedings of the 57th Electronic Components and Technology Conference, ECTC ’07, Reno, NV, May 29–June 1, 2007 192–197CrossRefGoogle Scholar
47Kumar, K.S., Brown, S.A.: Tensile behavior of the L12 compound Al67Ti25Cr8. Acta Metall. Mater. 40, 1923 1992Google Scholar
48Mullendore, A.W., Grant, N.J.: Grain boundary serrations developed during creep in Structural Processes in Creep, Special Report No. 70 Iron and Steel Institute London 1961 44–55Google Scholar
49Thijssen, F.M.J.: Effect of strain on microstructural evolution during dynamic recrystallization: Experiments on tin. Report. Utrecht University, The Netherlands 2004Google Scholar
50ASM InternationalProperties and selection: Non-ferrous alloys and special purpose materials in Metals Handbook 10th ed. ASM International,1990 Vol. 2, 517–526Google Scholar
51McCabe, R.J., Fine, M.E.: Creep of tin, Sb-solution strengthened tin and SbSn-precipitate–strengthened tin. Metall. Mater. Trans. A 33, 1531 2002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
52Adeva, P., Caruana, G., Ruano, O.A., Torralba, M.: Microstructure and high temperature mechanical properties of tin. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 194, 17 1994Google Scholar
53Lang, F., Tanaka, H., Munegata, O., Taguchi, T., Narita, T.: The effect of strain rate and temperature on the tensile properties of Sn–3.5Ag solder. Mater. Charact. 54, 223 2005Google Scholar
54Pao, Y-H., Badgley, S., Govila, R., Jih, E.: An experimental and modeling study of thermal cyclic behavior of Sn–Cu and Sn–Pb solder joints in Electronic Packaging Materials Science VII, edited by P. Borgesen, K.F. Jensen, and R.A. Pollak Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 323 Pittsburgh, PA 1994 153Google Scholar