Effect of βSn grain orientations on the electromigration-induced evolution of voids in SAC305 BGA solder joints

The electromigration (EM) failure of solder joints is closely related to the development of voids during EM. In this paper, an integrated approach combining experimentation and finite element simulation was employed to reveal the evolution of voids in solder joints under current stress. The results indicate that the quantity and volume of voids near the cathode consistently increase, while those close to the anode decrease. These asymmetric evolutions of voids are mainly due to the Sn flux, which is controlled by both current density and βSn grain orientation. The magnitude of Sn flux increases with higher current densities and larger angles γ between the c-axis of βSn and the current direction. The direction of Sn flux is more significantly influenced by the current direction rather than the βSn orientation, due to the weak anisotropic self-diffusion of Sn. Voids near the anode tend to shrink while those close to the cathode expand, parallel to the substrate, due to higher Sn flux distributions at the waists of voids, where current crowding is seen. Void splitting related to rapid Cu diffusion has been observed, leading to an abnormal increase in the number of voids near the cathode. This study enhances the understanding of the electromigration failure mechanisms involving void evolution in solder joints.