The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method for a semiconductor device.
Use of lead in electronic control devices incorporated in automobiles is regulated by the restriction of hazardous substances directive (RoHS directive) and the end-of-life vehicles directive (ELV directive). In comply with these regulations, using lead-free solder as solder for bonding work related to the devices has been promoted. For example, lead-free solder of a composition of Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu, that is, lead-free solder composed mainly of Sn (tin), Ag (silver), and Cu (copper) is now in wide use.
A nickel (Ni) electrode, which is bonded to solder, is used as an electrode of a semiconductor element of an electronic control device, and this nickel (Ni) electrode is formed by sputtering in many cases. Among various types of sputtering, in recent years, magnetron sputtering capable of faster and highly efficient film formation has emerged as the mainstream of sputtering processes. When an Ni electrode is formed by this magnetron sputtering, there arises a problem that pure Ni with strong magnetism is difficult to control. For this reason, Ni—V, a material created by adding V (vanadium) to Ni, is used as a material making up an electrode film. Hence bonding by lead-free solder, which is highly reliable in bonding with an Ni—V electrode, is required for an inverter.
As background art of the present invention, the following Patent Literature 1 describes a technique according to which a Cu film is formed on an Ni—V electrode and is bonded by Sn-based lead-free solder, at which, by causing Cu to completely react with Sn to precipitate a (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 compound on the Ni—V electrode, reaction between the Ni—V electrode and the Sn-based lead-free solder is suppressed to reduce time-dependent changes in a bonding interface relative to temperature changes under a service environment.
According to the method described in Patent Literature 1, because no Sn—V compound layer is formed, the strength of a bonding portion interface remains low, which may impair the reliability of the semiconductor device. In addition, when a large shear stress develops on a bonding portion, a creep void is created in the vicinity of the bonding portion interface, in which case the reliability of the device may be impaired further. An object of the present invention, which has been conceived in view of the above problems, is to provide a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method for a semiconductor device that improve bonding reliability.
A semiconductor device according to the present invention is a semiconductor device including a semiconductor element having an Ni—V electrode and a conductor, the semiconductor element and the conductor being bonded via Sn-based lead-free solder. In the semiconductor device, an Sn—V compound layer and an (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 compound layer or an Ni3Sn4 compound layer adjacent to the Sn—V compound are formed adjacent to an interface between the semiconductor element and the Sn-based lead-free solder.
A manufacturing method for a semiconductor device according to the present invention is a manufacturing method for a semiconductor device by which a semiconductor element having an Ni—V electrode is bonded to a conductor by Sn-based lead-free solder. The manufacturing method includes: causing the Sn-based lead-free solder and the Ni—V electrode to react with each other to form an Sn—V layer and an (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 compound layer or an Ni3Sn4 compound layer at a location adjacent to an interface between the semiconductor element and the Sn-based lead-free solder; and, following formation of the Sn—V layer, leaving an unreacted layer of the Ni—V electrode, the unreacted layer having not reacted with the Sn-based lead-free solder, intact.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method for a semiconductor device that improve bonding reliability can be provided.
Embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the drawings. The following description and drawings are exemplary one for explanation of the present invention, and, to make the explanation clear, will be omitted or simplified when necessary. The present invention can be implemented in various forms different from embodiments described herein. Unless otherwise specified, each constituent element of a single form and that of a plural form are both applicable.
The positions, sizes, shapes, ranges, and the like of constituent elements shown in the drawings are those for facilitating understanding of the invention and therefore may not represent the actual positions, sizes, shapes, ranges, and the like of the same. The present invention, therefore, is not necessarily limited by positions, sizes, shapes, ranges, and the like shown in the drawings.
To allow a semiconductor element 1 and Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu solder 5 to react well with each other, it is necessary to react the solder 5 with an Ni-based electrode formed on the semiconductor element 1 by sputtering. When the semiconductor element 1 and the Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu solder 5 react with each other, however, reaction between the solder 5 and the Ni-based electrode may proceed excessively, in which case, an (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 compound 4, which is created as a result of reaction between the Ni-based electrode formed on the semiconductor element 1 and the solder 5, separates from a reaction portion interface (a layer made up of an Al-based electrode 2 and a Ti-based electrode 3), as shown in
In such an interface structure, when a semiconductor device including an Ni—V electrode chip is used under a service environment at 150° C., the risk of separation of an interface portion increases, which leads to difficulty in maintaining a bonding condition of the device and may cause damage to the reliability of the device.
As shown in
The voids 21 formed in the vicinity of an interface between the solder 5 and the intermetallic compound 4 shows a tendency that when the intermetallic compound 4 is thin, the voids 21 are readily formed because of a greater shear stress applied to the intermetallic compound 4. This leads to an understanding that such development of the voids 21 and bonding separation in the device happen, depending on the shape of the intermetallic compound 4.
According to the conventional technique, a Cu film 8 is formed adjacent to an Ni—V electrode 7 (
As shown in
As shown in reaction transitions of
However, as shown in
Specifically, as shown in
The layer of the (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 compound 13 adjacent to the layer of the Sn—V compound 12 along the entire part thereof offers higher reliability than in a case of being adjacent to a part of the Sn—V compound 12.
How the voids 21 develop in the vicinity of the reaction portion interface varies depends on the thickness of the layer of the (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 compound 13 formed on the reaction portion interface.
As indicated by the test results of
The graph of
The test results demonstrate that when the sample is held for 1000 h under the service environment at 150° C., the Ni—V electrode of 300 nm in thickness disappears. This indicates that, to achieve higher reliability, it is desirable to adopt a structure in which at least the unreacted Ni—V electrode of 300 nm in thickness is left intact at the point of time of reaction. To leave the unreacted Ni—V electrode of 300 nm in thickness intact, it is desirable to use a semiconductor element having the Ni—V electrode with a pre-reaction thickness of 700 nm or more.
First to fourth examples of
The Sn-based lead-free solder 9 is supplied to a solder deposition position of Cu collector side lead frames 31 and 32 having roughened Ni plating (enlarged view A). On the Sn-based lead-free solder 9, the semiconductor element 1 having the Ni—V electrode 7 of 800 nm in thickness on both sides thereof is mounted, and the semiconductor element 1 and the lead frames 31 and 32 are bonded. Then, the Sn-based lead-free solder 9 is further supplied to an electrode on the upper surface of the bonded semiconductor element 1.
This process creates a structure which has a layer of the (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 compound 13 of 2 μm or more in average thickness that is adjacent to the Sn—V layer 12 formed by reaction as the unreacted Ni—V layer 7 of 300 nm or more in average thickness is left intact at a bonding portion of the semiconductor element 1. Thereafter, resin sealing 33 is performed by a transfer molding process to fabricate a semiconductor device.
The semiconductor device fabricated in this manner has been subjected to 50000 cycles of a power cycle test under conditions of a 150° C. high-temperature holding test for 1000 h, Tjmax150° C., and ΔTj 100° C. (
As a result, in all of the first to fourth examples, any degrading phenomenon, such as separation and creep void formation, has been not found at a reaction portion after the reliable test. Hence it has been confirmed that the semiconductor device has sufficient bonding reliability.
Fifth to eight examples of
A sheet of Sn-based lead-free solder 44 is placed on a heat-dissipating base 45, a ceramic substrate 43 is stacked on the Sn-based lead-free solder 44, a sheet of Sn-based lead-free solder 9 is placed on the substrate 43, and the semiconductor element 1 is placed on the Sn-based lead-free solder 9 and is heated to be bonded. Following bonding of the semiconductor element 1, an aluminum wire 42 and a terminal 41 are bonded, after which a case 47 is attached and the semiconductor element 1 is sealed with gel 46 to fabricate a semiconductor device.
The semiconductor device fabricated in this manner has been subjected to 50000 cycles of a power cycle test under conditions of a 150° C. high-temperature holding test for 1000 h, Tjmax150° C., and ΔTj 100° C. At the test, a case of a decrease in a bonding area of the device after the test being within 10% is evaluated as “o”, while a case of the bonding area of the device decreasing more than 10% is evaluated as “x” (
As a result, in all of the fifth to eighth examples, any degrading phenomenon, such as separation, has been not found at a reaction portion after the reliable test. Although a few creep voids have been found, the sufficient bonding reliability of the device has been confirmed.
Next, in first and second comparative example of
In third and fourth comparative examples of the table of
As described above, the test results of
In the present invention, the example in which the layer of the (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 compound 13 is formed by using the Sn-based lead-free solder containing Cu has been described. When Sn-based lead-free solder containing no Cu is used, a layer of an Ni3Sn4-based compound is formed, which offers the same effects.
The one embodiment of the present invention described above offers the following effects.
(1) The semiconductor device includes the semiconductor element 1 having the Ni—V electrode 7 and the conductors 31 and 32, the semiconductor element 1 and the conductors 31 and 32 being bonded via the Sn-based lead-free solder 9. In the semiconductor device, the Sn—V compound layer 13 and the (Ni, Cu) 3Sn4 compound layer 4 or the Ni3Sn4 compound layer that is adjacent to the Sn—V compound 13 are formed adjacent to the interface between the semiconductor element 1 and the Sn-based lead-free solder 9. The semiconductor device structured in this manner can be provided as a semiconductor device with improved bonding reliability.
(2) In the semiconductor device, the Sn—V compound layer 13 is a layer formed as a result of reaction of a part of the Ni—V electrode 7 with the Sn-based lead-free solder 9. This improves the bonding reliability of the device.
(3) In the semiconductor device, the (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 compound layer 4 or the Ni3Sn4 compound layer is disposed adjacent to the interface along the entire part of the Sn—V compound layer 13. This allows an improvement in the bonding strength of the device.
(4) The average thickness of the (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 compound layer 4 or the Ni3Sn4 compound layer of the semiconductor device is 2 μm or more. The semiconductor device structured in this manner can be provided as a semiconductor device with improved bonding reliability.
(5) An unreacted layer of the Ni—V electrode 7 of the semiconductor device, the unreacted layer having not reacted with the Sn-based lead-free solder 9, has an average thickness of 300 nm or more. Because of this, a semiconductor device with improved bonding reliability corresponding to 10-year guarantee of an automobile can be provided.
(6) In the semiconductor device, when the semiconductor element 1 having the Ni—V electrode 7 is bonded to the conductors 31 and 32 by the Sn-based lead-free solder 9, the Sn-based lead-free solder 9 and the Ni—V electrode 7 are caused to react with each other to form the Sn—V layer 12 and the (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 compound layer 4 or the Ni3Sn4 compound layer at a location adjacent to the interface between the semiconductor element 1 and the Sn-based lead-free solder 9, and, following formation of the Sn—V layer 12, an unreacted layer of the Ni—V electrode 7, the unreacted layer having not reacted with the Sn-based lead-free solder 9, is left intact. This provides the semiconductor device of the present invention.
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications and other configurations may be combined on the condition that such a combination does not depart from the substance of the present invention. In addition, the present invention is not limited to an embodiment that includes all the configurations described in the above embodiment, and includes also an embodiment from which some configurations are deleted.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2021-096947 | Jun 2021 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2022/007041 | 2/21/2022 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20240136318 A1 | Apr 2024 | US |