Copper ball bonding is the most widely used interconnection method in microelectronic packages. It has enabled many modern technologies, but the bond can fail due to corrosion. This paper concerns quantitative analyses of corrosion products of passing and failing copper ball bonds, and correlation with the corrosion thermodynamics. The role each element in the aluminum-copper intermetallic compound plays during crevice corrosion is described, and relative abundances of the oxidized elements are estimated. New insights regarding mechanisms of the highest vulnerability to corrosion attack in the thin film-stack across the bond are presented. Limited data indicate the same corrosion mechanisms for Au ball bonds.

Low-K dielectric adhesion problems were observed at M1 and M2 levels during thermal cycling of a flip chip product. Nano-indentation of simple BEOL test structures was used to determine the relative strength of the various interfaces in the BEOL stack. It is observed that the weakest adhesion is associated with the initial stages of the SiCOH low-K dielectric deposition. Adhesion loss related to the SiCN etch stop deposition is not observed.

Many semiconductor products are manufactured with mature technologies involving the uses of aluminum (Al) lines and tungsten (W) vias. High resistances of the vias were sometimes observed only after electrical or thermal stress. A layer of Ti oxide was found on such a via. In the wafer processing, the post W chemical mechanical planarization (WCMP) cleaning left residual W oxide on the W plugs. Ti from the overlaying metal line spontaneously reduced the W oxide, through which Ti oxide formed. Compared with W oxide, the Ti oxide has a larger formation enthalpy, and the valence electrons of Ti are more tightly bound to the O ion cores. As a result, the Ti oxide is more resistive than the W oxide. Consequently, the die functioned well in the first test in the fab, but the via resistance increased significantly after a thermal stress, which led to device failure in the second test. The NH4OH concentration was therefore increased to more effectively remove residual W oxide, which solved the problem. The thermal stress had prevented the latent issue from becoming a more costly field failure.

Coating of the Cu bond wire with Pd has been a rather widely accepted method in semiconductor packaging to improve the wire bonding reliability. Based on comparison of a Cu bond wire and a Pd-coated Cu bond wire on AlCu pads that had passed HAST, new insight into the mechanism of the reliability improvement is gained. Our analysis showed the dominant Cu-rich intermetallics (IMC) were Cu3Al2 for the Cu wire, and (CuPdx)Al for the Pd-coated wire. The results have verified the Cu-rich IMC being suppressed by the Pd-coating, which has been extensively reported in literature. Binary phase diagrams of Al, Cu, and Pd indicate that the addition of Pd elevates the melting point and bond strength of (CuPdx)Al compared with CuAl that formed with the bare Cu wire. The improvements are expected to decrease the kinetics of phase transformation toward the more Cu-rich IMC. With the suppression of the Cu-rich IMC, the corrosion resistance of the wire bonding is enhanced and the wire bonding reliability improved. We find that Ni behaves thermodynamically quite similar to Pd in the ternary system of Cu wire bonding, and therefore possesses the potential to improve the corrosion resistance.

Cu wires were bonded to AlSi (1%) pads, subsequently encapsulated and subjected to uHAST (un-biased Highly Accelerated Stress Test, 130 °C and 85% relative humidity). After the test, a pair of bonding interfaces associated with a failing contact resistance and a passing contact resistance were analyzed and compared, with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction, and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The data suggested the corrosion rates were higher for the more Cu-rich Cu-Al intermetallics (IMC) in the failing sample. The corrosion was investigated with factors including electromotive force (EMF), self-passivation of Al, thickness and homogeneity of the Al-oxide on the IMC, ratio of the Cu-to-Al surface areas exposed to the electrolyte for an IMC taken into account. The preferential corrosion observed for the Cu-rich IMC is attributed to the high ratios of the surface areas of the cathode and anode that were exposed to the electrolyte, and the passivation oxide of Al with the lower homogeneity. The corrosion of the Cu-Al IMC is just a manifestation of the well-known phenomenon of dealloying. With the understanding of the corrosion mechanisms, prohibiting the formation of Cu-rich IMCs is expected be an approach to improve the corrosion resistance of the wire bonding.

Ni(5 at.%Pt ) films were silicided at a temperature below 400 °C and at 550 °C. The two silicidation temperatures had produced different responses to the subsequent metal etch. Catastrophic removal of the silicide was seen with the low silicidation temperature, while the desired etch selectivity was achieved with the high silicidation temperature. The surface microstructures developed were characterized with TEM and Auger depth profiling. The data correlate with both silicidation temperatures and ultimately the difference in the response to the metal etch. With the high silicidation temperature, there existed a thin Si-oxide film that was close to the surface and embedded with particles which contain metals. This thin film is expected to contribute significantly to the desired etch selectivity. The formation of this layer is interpreted thermodynamically.

Modern semiconductor devices are continuing to be scaled down and the complexity of the processes involved in producing the devices keeps increasing; in conjunction with this, sample preparation and analysis are increasingly important for accurately determining the sources of defects and failure mechanisms in terms of process integration. This paper discusses ways to characterize integration-driven defects using deprocessing techniques and cross-section imaging to obtain 3-D views of such defects. As an example, a single-via test structure is evaluated. The article focuses on the techniques used to deprocess the single-via structure using a combination of RIE, FIB, and wet etching to expose the single via while maintaining the integrity of the structure. The resulting 3-D view of the structure and associated defect allowed for improved understanding of the defect and its origin. This understanding enabled process optimization to minimize such defect formation.