Screen-Printed Cu Circuit for Low-Cost Fabrication and Its Electrochemical Migration Characteristics

Circuit pitch has decreased due to the demand for high-performance and multi-functional electronic devices. This trend has increased the risk of short-circuit failures by electrochemical migration (ECM), which is the transportation of ions between the cathode and anode under electrical potential. While direct printing has emerged as a promising technology in terms of manufacturing cost and environmental issues, there are few studies about ECM in directly printed copper (Cu) nanopaste. We prepared screen-printed comb-type Cu patterns on a Si wafer with various sintering temperatures (200, 250, 300, 350 degrees C). ECM characteristics of the printed Cu were determined by water drop testing under various electrical potentials (3, 6, 9 V). The microstructures and the roughness profiles of the pattern surfaces were identified with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and a three-dimensional surface profiler, respectively. While the electrical potential increased from 3 V to 9 V, the time to failure (ECM time) required for dendrites to grow from the cathode to the adjacent anode decreased by 63.0%. On the other hand, the ECM time increased by 205.1% when the sintering temperature increased from 200 degrees C to 350 degrees C. FE-SEM micrographs and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis of dendrites showed a mixture of trunk and lace types, which were mainly composed of Cu.