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Micropillar Mechanics of Sn-Based Intermetallic Compounds

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Handbook of Mechanics of Materials

Abstract

The semiconductor industry is exploring a new scheme called “More-than-Moore” to overcome the high cost and difficulty of smaller node fabrications when facing the end of Moore’s law. For this purpose, the three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) architecture is favored by most major semiconductor companies. The stacking of chips in 3D IC architecture with design of microbumps and through silicon vias (TSVs) allows integration of heterogeneous function within a single chip for enhancing performance with small form factor by increasing I/O density, shortening interconnect distance. Due to this reduction in solder volume, it is anticipated that Sn-based solder in microbumps will be totally converted into intermetallics (IMCs) during the assembly or the operation of further process. Sn-based IMCs therefore dominate the properties of microbump and become potential candidates of structural materials. The mechanical behaviors of IMCs and the preferred types of IMC become questions of importance. This chapter focuses on the micromechanical behaviors of single-crystalline Cu6Sn5 and Ni3Sn4 by micropillar compression.

The failure mode of single-crystalline Cu6Sn5 and Ni3Sn4 are cleavage, but they both performed strain bursts as a result of dislocation gliding with certain slip system before failure. They are not as brittle as people thought and have adequate mechanical properties. For Cu6Sn5, grains with the c-axis aligned with the load direction have better mechanical properties. The compound Ni3Sn4 can withstand more than 4% strain along the slip system, (100)[010]. Compared to Cu6Sn5, Ni3Sn4 has better mechanical performance as well as toughness and should be more favorable to be adopted as structure materials of 3D IC microbumps.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan

    J. J. Yu, J. Y. Wu, L. J. Yu & C. R. Kao

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    J. J. Yu

Authors
  1. J. J. Yu
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  2. J. Y. Wu
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  3. L. J. Yu
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  4. C. R. Kao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. R. Kao .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Strength of Materials, University of Stuttgart Institute for Materials Testing, Stuttgart, Germany

    Siegfried Schmauder

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University Department of Civil Engineering, Taipei, T´ai-pei, Taiwan

    Chuin-Shan Chen

  3. BEC 254, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

    Krishan K. Chawla

  4. Fulton School of Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

    Nikhilesh Chawla

  5. Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University Engineering Mechanics, Hangzhou, China

    Weiqiu Chen

  6. Katayanagi Advanced Research Laboratorie, Tokyo University of Technology Katayanagi Advanced Research Laboratorie, Tokyo, Japan

    Yutaka Kagawa

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Yu, J.J., Wu, J.Y., Yu, L.J., Kao, C.R. (2018). Micropillar Mechanics of Sn-Based Intermetallic Compounds. In: Schmauder, S., Chen, CS., Chawla, K., Chawla, N., Chen, W., Kagawa, Y. (eds) Handbook of Mechanics of Materials. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6855-3_62-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6855-3_62-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-6855-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-6855-3

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