Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Cu3Sn/Cu Interfacial Diffusion Mechanism under Electrothermal Coupling

Abstract

With the increasing power density of electronic devices, solder joints are prone to electromigration under high currents, which results in a significant threat to reliability. In this study, the molecular dynamics method is used to study the diffusion mechanism of the Cu3Sn/Cu interface under the action of electrothermal coupling. The results show that the diffusion activation energy decreases with an increase in electric field intensity, accelerating the diffusion of the Cu3Sn/Cu interface. Furthermore, it is noted that the abrupt change in the vacancy–time curve lags behind that of the mean square displacement curve, which depicts that the responses of the vacancies are driven by the electric field. The vacancy-responsive diffusion mechanism of the Cu3Sn/Cu interface is proposed. The atoms around the interface in the electric field get rid of the shackles of the neighboring atoms easily. The vacancy concentration increases as the atoms leave the equilibrium position, which accelerates the movement of vacancies and enhances the diffusion of the Cu3Sn/Cu interface.