Patent Application
20130142568
The present invention generally relates to 3N copper wires with trace additions for bonding in microelectronics.
Fine Au, Cu, and Al wires are widely used for interconnections in integrated chips. Silver wires have also been examined for unique applications. For Au and Al wires, usually 2N to 4N purities (99 to 99.99%) are utilized, while only 4N purity is typically used for Cu. 5N to 8N purity Cu wires have been examined, but are not in practice. Dopants are often added to wires for specific properties, such as loop capabilities, reliability, bondability, corrosion resistance, etc. Wires in the range of 18 μm to 75 μm diameter are commonly used in wire bonding. For high current carrying applications, wires in the diameter range of 200 μm to 400 μm are typically employed.
Alloys for wires are typically continuously cast into rods of 2 mm to 25 mm diameter and are further drawn in heavy, intermediate, and fine steps. The fine drawn wires are annealed at high temperatures around 0.25 to 0.6 Tm (melting point of the wire) and later spooled, vacuum packed and stored for bonding.
Several patents report the benefits of doped and alloyed Cu wires. For example, the addition of 0.13 to 1.17 mass % Pd is reported to provide wires with high reliability in the pressure cooker test (PCT). Cu wires doped with <700 ppm Mg and P, maintaining 30 ppm of oxygen (O), and with the addition of elements Be, Al, Si, In, Ge, Ti, and V (6-300 ppm) and Ca, Y, La, Ce, Pr, and Nd (<300 ppm) were found to be good for bonding. The addition of Nb and P in the range of 20-100 ppm, along with the elements Cs, Lu, Ta, Re, Os, Ir, Po, At, Pr, Pm, Sm, and Gd (<50 ppm) and Zr, Sn, Be, Nd, Sc, Ga, Fr, and Ra (<100 ppm) were reported to yield soft and bondable wires. A bondable Cu wire was produced when doped with a maximum of 1000 ppm of the elements Mn, Co, Ni, Nb, Pd, Zr and In. If the wire contained Be, Fe, Zn, Zr, Ag, Sn, V<2000 ppm, it was found to be bondable and reliable. Other prior art reports that the addition of boron (B) up to 100 ppm with a small amount of Be, Ca, and Ge (<10 ppm), while maintaining sulfur (S) at <0.5 ppm, yielded a wire that exhibited low ball hardness and reduced work hardening. Cu wire containing Cr<25 ppm, Zr<9 ppm, Ag<9 ppm, and Sn<9 ppm demonstrated bondability as good as Au wire. The low level additions of Fe, Ag, Sn, and Zr<9 ppm were reported to produce a normal bondable wire. Further, the addition of the elements B, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, K, V, Ga, Ge, Rb, Sr, Y, Mo, Cd, Cs, Ba, Hf, Ta, Tl, and W<1000 ppm provided superior properties suitable for bonding.
Other prior art reports that Cu wire processed using ultra high purity Cu, such as 8N (99.999999%), and containing O, C, H, N, S, and P<1 ppm produced soft wire with 40HV hardness. Further, Cu wires processed using purity 5N and 6N and doped with any one of the elements or combined with different combinations of Ti, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Co and maintaining <4.5 ppm showed good bondability. The combination of Hf, V, Ta, Pd, Pt, Au, Cd, B, Al, In, Si, Ge, Pb, S, Sb, and Bi at <4.5 ppm with Nb<4.5 ppm using 5N and 6N purity Cu also showed good bondability. The addition of Ti at 0.12-8.4 ppm along with Mg, Ca, La, Hf, V, Ta, Pd, Pt, Au, Cd, B, Al, In, Si, Ge, Pb, P, Sb, Bi, and Nb at <0.16-8.1 ppm is taught to yield wires suitable for bonding. A Cu wire with an impurity of <4 ppm and containing Mg, Ca, Be, In, Ge, Tl<1 ppm performed equal to Au wire and was soft as 35HV.
In other prior art, a clean spherical free air ball was achieved using 4N Cu wire containing Mg, Al, Si, and P<40 ppm. Similarly, a Cu wire of 40 to 50HV was attained, maintaining a purity <10 ppm with the addition of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Sc, and Y<20 ppm or Mg, Ca, Be, Ge, and Si<20 ppm. Cu wire with the addition of Ni and Co<100 ppm and Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Zr, Nb, Pd, Ag, In, and Sn<150 ppm showed corrosion resistance and hardness of 41HV. Also, Cu wire containing Ti, Fe, Cr, Mn, Ni, and Co<150 ppm performed quite well on bonding. A soft Cu wire with <49HV was attained using zone refined Cu and maintaining Mg, Ca, Ti, Zr, and Hf<100 ppm. The addition of elements Be, Sn, Zn, Zr, Ag, Cr, and Fe to a maximum 2 wt %, with maintained H, N, O, C contents and controlled gas creation (H2, CO, N2, O2) during free air ball, provided a superior bond strength. Further, adding 400 ppm of Mg and traces of Fe and Ag provided reduction in crack formation near the heat affected zone (HAZ). The wire was corrosion resistant and it was processed using 6N purity Cu. The addition of La<0.002 wt %, Ce<0.003 wt %, and Ca<0.004 wt % to a 4N Cu wire provided a long storage life.
Generally, there is a demand for Cu wires with trace additions having good bondability, free air ball formation in an inert or reactive environment, reliability, in particular under highly accelerated stress test (HAST), good looping performance, and easy drawability in mass production scale properties. Slight increases in resistivity of 5-15% are typically the disadvantage of doped Cu wires. However, if the wire exhibits superior reliability performance, especially under HAST, the wire is attractive even with increased resistivity and cost.
Example embodiments of the present invention seek to provide 3N Cu wires with trace additions for bonding in microelectronics that can provide high reliability performance with reduced compromises in other properties.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 3N copper wire with trace additions for bonding in microelectronics comprising 3N copper and one or more corrosion resistance addition materials selected from the group consisting of Ag, Ni, Pd, Au, Pt, and Cr, wherein a total concentration of the corrosion resistance addition materials is between about 90 wt. ppm (parts per million by weight) and about 980 wt. ppm.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 90 wt. ppm to about 980 wt. ppm Ag.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 90 wt. ppm to about 980 wt. ppm Ni.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 90 wt. ppm to about 980 wt. ppm Pd.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 90 wt. ppm to about 980 wt. ppm Au.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 90 wt. ppm to about 980 wt. ppm Pt.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 90 wt. ppm to about 980 wt. ppm Cr.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Ag, about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Ni, and about 10 wt. ppm to about 880 wt. ppm Pd.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 300 wt. ppm Ag and about 10 wt. ppm to about 100 wt. ppm Ni.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 300 wt. ppm Ag, about 10 wt. ppm to about 100 wt. ppm Ni, and about 10 wt. ppm to about 580 wt. ppm Pd.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 300 wt. ppm Ag and about 10 wt. ppm to about 200 wt. ppm Ni.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 300 wt. ppm Ag, about 10 wt. ppm to about 200 wt. ppm Ni, and about 10 wt. ppm to about 480 wt. ppm Pd.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Ag, about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Ni, and about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Pd.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Ag, about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Ni, and about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Cr.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Ag, about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Ni, about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Pd, and about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Cr.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 300 wt. ppm Ag, about 10 wt. ppm to about 100 wt. ppm Ni, and about 10 wt. ppm to about 530 wt. ppm Pd.
The corrosion resistance addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 300 wt. ppm Ag, about 10 wt. ppm to about 100 wt. ppm Ni, about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Pd, about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Au, about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Pt, and about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm Cr.
The 3N copper wire may further comprise about 3 wt. ppm to about 15 wt. ppm of a deoxidizer addition material. The deoxidizer addition material may comprise about 1 wt. ppm to about 5 wt. ppm Ca and Ce, about 1 wt. ppm to about 5 wt. ppm Mg and La, and about 1 wt. ppm to about 5 wt. ppm Al.
The 3N copper wire may further comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 80 wt. ppm of a deoxidizer addition material. The deoxidizer addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 80 wt. ppm P.
The 3N copper wire may further comprise about 3 wt. ppm to about 95 wt. ppm of a deoxidizer addition material. The deoxidizer addition material comprises about 1 wt. ppm to about 5 wt. ppm Ca and Ce, about 1 wt. ppm to about 5 wt. ppm Mg and La, about 1 wt. ppm to about 5 wt. ppm Al, and about 10 wt. ppm to about 80 wt. ppm P.
The 3N copper wire may further comprise about 30 wt. ppm to about 290 wt. ppm of a grain refiner addition material. The grain refiner addition material may comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 200 wt. ppm Fe, about 10 wt. ppm to about 50 wt. ppm B, about 5 wt. ppm to about 20 wt. ppm Zr, and about 5 wt. ppm to about 20 wt. ppm Ti.
The 3N copper wire may further comprise about 10 wt. ppm to about 100 wt. ppm of a grain refiner addition material. The grain refiner addition material comprises about 10 wt. ppm to about 100 wt. ppm B.
The 3N copper wire may further comprise about 30 wt. ppm to about 260 wt. ppm of a grain refiner addition material. The grain refiner addition material comprises about 10 wt. ppm to about 200 wt. ppm Fe, about 10 wt. ppm to about 20 wt. ppm B, about 5 wt. ppm to about 20 wt. ppm Zr, and about 5 wt. ppm to about 20 wt. ppm Ti.
The 3N copper wire may further comprise about 1 wt. ppm to about 3 wt. ppm S.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 3N copper wire with trace additions for bonding in microelectronics consisting of 3N copper and one or more corrosion resistance addition materials selected from the group consisting of Ag, Ni, Pd, Au, Pt, and Cr, wherein a total concentration of the corrosion resistance addition materials is between about 90 wt. ppm and about 980 wt. ppm. More particularly, the corrosion resistance addition materials may be present in amounts such as the specific embodiments described in the preceding paragraphs.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is a provided a system for bonding an electronic device, comprising a first bonding pad, a second bonding pad, and a 3N copper wire with trace additions according to the invention, wherein the wire is connected to the first and second bonding pads by wedge-bonding.
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.
In the drawings:
a)-(b) show comparative ball bond and stitch bond process window data for 3N Cu wires with trace additions according to an example embodiment; and
a)-(b) show comparative thermal aging (high temperature storage) data for 3N Cu wires with trace additions according to an example embodiment.
The example embodiments described herein provide 3N Cu wires with trace additions for bonding in microelectronics packaging industries. The wires are prepared using high purity Cu (>99.99%) and as major trace addition elements Ag, Ni, Pd, Au, Pt, Cr, Ca, Ce, Mg, La, Al, P, Fe, B, Zr and Ti. Fine wires are drawn from the Cu with the trace additions. The wires in example embodiments are bondable to Al bond pads as well as Ag, Cu, Au, Pd plated surfaces. The results of HTS (high temperature storage) of the wire bonds are comparable to a commercially available 4N soft Cu reference wire when bonded to an Al bond pad and stored at about 175° C. for about 1000 hours. Corrosion resistance of the wires with trace elements is advantageously better than the 4N soft Cu reference wire. As will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art, HAST (highly accelerated stress tests) or THB (temperature humidity bias) tests are typically conducted for Cu wire bonded and epoxy molded devices using biased or unbiased conditions. During the test, the Cu wire bond interface (i.e., Cu wire welded to Al bond pad) undergoes electro-chemical based galvanic corrosion. Moisture absorption by the epoxy is the source for diffusion of hydroxyl ions (OH−). Parts per million levels of halogen (Cl, Br, etc.) contamination in the epoxy are the source for Cl− ions. Polarization scans recorded for wires according to example embodiments of the present invention under an electrochemical reaction of the wire in dilute HCl revealed a positive rest potential exhibiting corrosion resistance. Hence, 3N Cu wire with trace additions according to example embodiments are expected to perform better on reliability studies such as HAST and THB.
The 3N Cu with trace additions is continuously cast into rods. Elements are added individually or combined to a maximum of about 980 wt. ppm, maintaining the purity of the wire to be 3N in the example embodiments. The cast rods are wire drawn to a fine diameter of about 10 μm to 250 μm. The fine wires in example embodiments advantageously exhibit good free air ball (FAB) formation, bondability, loop formation and reliability (HTS). Hardness, tensile strength, surface oxidation, electrical resistivity, and fusing current of the wires with trace additions in example embodiments are close to the 4N soft Cu reference wire. For bonding in microelectronics packaging sectors, the 3N Cu wires with trace additions according to example embodiments advantageously reveal better corrosion resistance without compromising softness.
In the example embodiments, copper of 4N to 5N purity was used to prepare the alloys and was melted in a vacuum induction furnace. At least one or more of Ag, Ni, Pd, Au, Pt, Cr, Ca, Ce, Mg, La, Al, P, Fe, B, Zr and Ti were added into the melt and held for about 2 to 15 minutes to allow a thorough dissolution. The elements were added individually or combined. The alloy was continuously cast into about 2 mm to 25 mm rods at a slow speed. No significant loss in dopant additions was observed. These rods were cold wire drawn at room temperature (about 23-25° C.).
A tungsten carbide die was used to initially draw heavy wire, and a diamond die was used for further reduction to fine wire. The wire was drawn in three stages at a drawing speed of about 15 m/s or less. The die reduction ratios were about 14-18% for heavy wires and about 4 to 12% for fine wires. During cold drawing, the wires were lubricated and intermediate annealed between stages to reduce the residual stresses. Finally, the drawn wires were strand annealed, spooled on clean anodized (plated) aluminum spools, vacuum packed and stored.
Hardness was measured using a Fischer scope H100C tester with a Vickers indenter applying 15 mN force for 10 s dwell time. Tensile properties of the wires were tested using Instron-5300. The wires were bonded using a Kulicke & Soffa (K&S)-iConn bonder. The bonded wires were observed in a LEO-1450VP scanning electron microscope.
The added elements and ranges of additions in the example embodiments are shown in Table. 1. Noble metals Ag, Au, Pd, and Pt, and metals Ni and Cr were added to improve the corrosion resistance of the Cu wire. In some embodiments, Ca, Ce, Mg, La, Al, and P were added as deoxidizers, softening the FAB. In some embodiments, Fe, B, Zr, and Ti were added as grain refiners to influence FAB grains. Boron was added in some embodiments to influence the strain hardening of the wire along with Ag and Ni.
The mechanical and electrical properties of the wires with trace additions of the example embodiments are shown in Table 2. Advantageously, the properties are close to the 4N soft Cu reference wire. A representative tensile plot of 3N Cu wire with trace additions according to example embodiments is shown in
The corrosion resistance of 3N Cu wires with trace additions according to example embodiments is better than that of the 4N soft Cu reference wire (Table 2).
The 3N Cu wire with trace additions of example embodiments may be bonded to pads metallized (plated) with Au, Ag, Pd, and Cu. On bonding to Al bond pads, the wire bonds are anticipated to have a longer reliability life, especially under HAST and THB tests.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201108909-1 | Dec 2011 | SG | national |
