Enhancing Electromigration Lifetime Through Controlled Reduction of Bismuth Content in Sn-Bi-Ag Solder Interconnects

This study systematically investigates the influence of Bi content on the electromigration (EM) lifetime of low-temperature Cu/Sn-xBi-1Ag (600 μm)/Cu interconnects, where x = 57, 47 and 40 wt.%. The intrinsically higher product of diffusivity and effective charge number (DZ*) for Bi compared to Sn drives pronounced preferential migration of Bi atoms towards the anode, resulting in progressive β-Sn/Bi phase separation and linear thickening of a Bi-rich layer at the anode. Reducing the Bi content suppresses the EM-induced atomic flux (J_EM) through three principal mechanisms: (i) a decrease in the atomic concentration of mobile Bi atoms; (ii) a reduction in electrical resistivity that weakens the electron wind force; and (iii) an increase in lattice diffusion distance that lowers the effective diffusion coefficient (D_eff). The suppression of J_EM directly governs the thickening kinetics of anodic Bi layer, as evidenced by the close agreement between the calculated (1:0.40:0.23) and measured (1:0.45:0.26) anodic Bi layer growth rate ratios. Consequently, the EM lifetime is significantly extended from 62.3 h (Sn-57Bi-1Ag) to 164.9 h (Sn-47Bi-1Ag) and 414.1 h (Sn-40Bi-1Ag), representing 2.6-fold and 6.6-fold improvements, respectively. This study highlights that reducing the Bi content is an effective strategy for enhancing the EM reliability of Sn-Bi-Ag solder interconnects.