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Bond strength evaluation of wire bonding in microchips is the key study in any wire bonding mechanism. The quality of the wire bond interconnection relates very closely to the reliability of the microchip during performance of its function in any application. In many reports, concerns regarding the reliability of the microchip are raised due to formation of void at the wire-bond pad bonding interface, predominantly after high temperature storage (HTS) annealing conditions. In this report, the quality of wire bonds prepared at different conditions, specifically annealed at different HTS durations are determined by measurements of the strength of the interface between the bond wire and the bond pad. The samples are tested in pull test and bond shear test. It was observed that the higher bonding temperature as well as the longer duration of HTS increased the bond strength. This is represented through the analysis of the measurements of ball shear strength. This is due to the fact that higher bonding temperature and longer HTS promoted better growth of the Cu-Al IMC layer. A transmission electron microscopy - energy dispersive X-ray analysis (TEM-EDX) has been carried out to observe the formation of the Cu-Al IMC layer in the sample.

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Thermosonic Copper (Cu) wire interconnection has been under an extensive research and development to replace expensive Gold (Au) wire material in the semiconductor industry. However, a reliability concern is raised due to void formation at the bonding interface of Copper wire-Aluminum bond pad (Cu-Al) after High Temperature Storage (HTS) annealing condition. It is believed that the Intermetallic Compound (IMC) layer growth and evolution lead to a volumetric shrinkage which in turn results in the void formation. Annealing conditions influence the development of the IMC at the bonding interface which is related to the bonding reliability. In this work, the effects of annealing toward the micro-structure and IMC growth at the bonding interface were evaluated using Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope equipped with Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis. In the as-synthesized sample bonded at 100°C, an inhomogeneous IMC formation dominated by grain boundary diffusion was observed. After High Temperature Storage of 1000 hours, the consumption of the Al bond pad resulted in the formation of irregular IMC layers. The variation of phases existed in a localized region was believed due to simultaneous growth of IMC by both grain boundary and volume diffusions. Moreover, the diffusion of Cu into Si was observed. This resulted in the formation of the mixture of Si + η phases in the affected sea region.