Simulating damage mechanics of electromigration and thermomigration

Abstract

Electromigration (EM) and thermomigration (TM) are processes of mass transport which are critical reliability issues for next generation nanoelectronics and power electronics. The purpose of this project is to develop a computational tool for simulating damage mechanics of EM and TM and their interaction. In this paper, a model for EM and TM processes is proposed and has been implemented in a general purpose finite-element code. The governing equations utilized for the model include mass conservation, force equilibrium, heat transfer and electricity conduction. A damage evolution model based on thermodynamics is introduced to evaluate the degradation in solder joints subjected to high current densities and high temperature gradients. The simulation results are compared with experimental data to validate the model.