Shearing Characteristics of Cu-Cu Joints Fabricated by Two-Step Process Using Highly <111>-Oriented Nanotwinned Cu

Abstract

Cu-Cu bonding has the potential to break through the extreme boundary of scaling down chips’ I/Os into the sub-micrometer scale. In this study, we investigated the effect of 2-step bonding on the shear strength and electrical resistance of Cu-Cu microbumps using highly -oriented nanotwinned Cu (nt-Cu). Alignment and bonding were achieved at 10 s in the first step, and a post-annealing process was further conducted to enhance its bonding strength. Results show that bonding strength was enhanced by 2–3 times after a post-annealing step. We found 50% of ductile fractures among 4548 post-annealed microbumps in one chip, while the rate was less than 20% for the as-bonded counterparts. During the post-annealing, interfacial grain growth and recrystallization occurred, and the bonding interface was eliminated. Ductile fracture in the form of zig-zag grain boundary was found at the original bonding interface, thus resulting in an increase in bonding strength of the microbumps.

Keywords

• highly <111>-oriented nanotwinned copper
• die-to-die bonding
• die-to-wafer bonding
• post-annealing
• grain growth
• die shear test