A Method for the Characterization of Adhesion Strength Degradation of Thin Films on Si-Substrate under Thermal Cycling Test

The adhesion strength of thin films on their substrate, as one of the most important mechanical properties, determines not only the electrical and thermal performance of microelectronics assemblies, but also their durability and longevity in acritical manner. In this paper, a recently developed method, which is used to characterize interfacial properties, named cross-sectional nanoindentation (CSN), will be employed to measure the adhesion strength of ductile thin films on Si substrates quantitatively. By measuring the geometrical properties of an induced interfacial crack between the thin film and the substrate and subsequent computation of the corresponding strain energy release rate, the adhesion strength of the thin film and its degradation during a thermal cycling test (TCT) will be assessed.