Fracture behavior of intermetallic compound (IMC) of solder joints based on finite elements’ simulation result

Abstract

The development of microelectronic industry has made solder joints failure a major reliability issue. From literature, many researchers have identified that intermetallic compounds (IMC) layer contribute greatly to the fracture of solder joint. This paper presents a finite element modeling of solder butt joints IMC layer failure based on displacement extrapolation method (DEM). Conceptual study on single edge crack of IMC solder joints is presented. A FE analytical model is proposed to be used in difference range of crack length to understand the fracture behavior of solder joint of IMC layer. The simulation results show that soldering material become less tough if greater crack length is present in the joint. It also seen that the thicker IMC has slightly reduced the stress intensity factor on the crack tip but the change from solder to IMC layer decrease the solder joint fracture toughness.