Condensation and Growth of Kirkendall Voids in Intermetallic Compounds

• Published in: IEEE transactions on components and packaging technologies Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 684 - 692
• Main Authors: Weinberg, K., Bohme, T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.09.2009; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Constitutive relationships; Copper; Deformable models; Diffusion rate; Inorganic materials; Intermetallic; Intermetallic compounds; Kirkendall effect; Mathematical models; Microelectronics; Nucleation; Packaging; plastic deformation; Plastics; Predictive models; Soldering; Solders; Thermal cycling; Tin; vacancy diffusion; void distribution; void growth; void nucleation; Voids
• ISSN: 1521-3331; 1557-9972
• DOI: 10.1109/TCAPT.2008.2010057

A model for the simulation of Kirkendall voiding in metallic materials is presented based on vacancy diffusion, elastic-plastic and rate-dependent deformation of the material. Starting with a phenomenological explanation of the Kirkendall effect we briefly discuss the consequences on the reliability of microelectronic components. Then, a constitutive model for void nucleation and growth is introduced, which can be used to predict the temporal development of voids in solder joints during thermal cycling. We present numerical studies and discuss the potential of the results for the failure analysis of joining connections.