Adhesion measurement for electronic packaging applications using double cantilever beam method

Multilayers and interfaces are ubiquitous in microelectronics devices, interconnect and packaging structures. As the interface integrity becomes the major concern of performance, yield, and reliability, the need to evaluate the fracture and delamination behavior of various interfaces increases. This work focused on quantifying interfacial adhesion performance of a typical electronics packaging structure, flip-chip-on-organic-substrate. A series of experiments and analyzes were conducted to investigate the adhesion and fracture behaviors of the underfill/silicon and underfill/organic substrate interfaces. The experimental techniques for the interfacial fracture experiments were developed to produce the double-cantilever-beam (DCB) specimens and to establish a reproducible testing protocol. To extract the interfacial fracture energies, a closed-form solution was developed based on a beam-on-elastic-foundation model. A two-dimensional elastoplastic finite element analysis (FEA) model was also implemented to examine effects of mode-mixity; thermal/residual stresses, and underfill plasticity The techniques allow for reproducible determination of underfill/printed circuit board (PCB) and underfill/silicon chip interfacial adhesion strength. The developed techniques are also readily applicable to evaluate interfacial adhesion performance for many other similar electronic packaging systems. This provides capabilities in optimizing materials selections and process conditions to improve interfacial adhesion performance. Additionally, the interfacial fracture energy measured with high accuracy can provide a basis for realistic modeling of thermo-mechanical reliability of electronic components.