A New Approach to the Study of the Intrinsic Ageing Kinetics of Thick Film Resistors

Abstract

A new method of studying the accelerated ageing of interconnection materials is applied to a high‐stability thick film resistor system (the Du Pont HS‐80 system). The new method, referred to hereafter as the in‐situ method, allows measurement of the electrical resistance of a thick film resistor to a resolution of a few ppm during accelerated ageing. With the in‐situ technique, the electrical resistance measurements are performed at the elevated ageing temperature during the ageing treatment, whereas with the conventional ageing method the resistance measurements are carried out at room temperature, between subsequent annealing steps. The measuring resolution obtainable with the in‐situ method is orders of magnitude better than with the conventional method. The ageing kinetics can therefore be studied on a shorter time scale and in greater detail than with the conventional method. In this paper, the authors use the in‐situ method to study the accelerated ageing of the Du Pont HS‐80 thick film resistor system, encapsulated with a proper glaze. It will be shown that kinetics of the resistance drift observed in this system cannot be described by an Arrhenius‐type equation. The ageing data can only be interpreted in terms of a kinetic model incorporating a spectrum of activation energies for the ageing process. Such a model is given, and is shown to provide a good explanation of the observed ageing behaviour. The physical process that causes the observed ageing is most probably diffusion of silver from the contacting terminals into the amorphous matrix of the thick film resistor.