Fracture toughness of Cu–EMC interfaces in pressurized steam

Interfacial delamination is known as one of the root causes of failure in microelectronic industry. Delamination toughness is strongly dependent on the temperature, the moisture content and on the so-called mode mixity of the stress state near the crack tip.The present study deals with the experimental and simulation procedures for establishing the interfacial fracture toughness of Epoxy Molding Compounds–Copper leadframe interfaces at dry and pressure cooker conditions, temperature larger than 100 °C and 100% RH. It is shown that steam significantly decreases the interfacial toughness at temperatures above the Tg of the Epoxy Molding Compounds. The effects of temperature and mode mixity on critical interface properties are also investigated.