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Polyimide-Enhanced Stretchable Interconnects - Design, Fabrication, and Characterization PDF
Polyimide-Enhanced Stretchable Interconnects - Design, Fabrication, and Characterization PDF
Polyimide-Enhanced Stretchable Interconnects - Design, Fabrication, and Characterization PDF
I. I NTRODUCTION
ONFORMAL electronics have attracted attention in recent years because of their deformability in bending,
twisting, and stretching. This unique deformability allows the
electronic systems to be used in biomedical applications such
as artificial skins [3], phototherapy, and implantable devices
[4]. Several technologies have been proposed in recent years
to achieve a high deformability. One of the most effective technologies is hybrid systems. These hybrid systems are usually
composed of rigid or bendable elements such as a thick or thin
Si IC chip, connected through stretchable electrical conductors.
The sensory or active components such as sensors or transistors
are placed on the rigid or bendable elements, and as such, when
Manuscript received February 18, 2011; revised April 13, 2011; accepted
April 20, 2011. Date of publication June 9, 2011; date of current version
July 22, 2011. This work was supported by the European Commission via the
PLACE-it research project under Contract 0248048. The review of this paper
was arranged by Editor A. Schenk.
Y.-Y. Hsu and I. De Wolf are with the IMEC, 3001 Leuven, Belgium, and also
with the Department of Materials Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
(KUL), 3001 Leuven, Belgium (e-mail: Yung-Yu.Hsu@imec.be).
M. Gonzalez is with the IMEC, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
F. Bossuyt and J. Vanfleteren are with the Center for Microsystems Technology IMEC, 9052 Gent, Belgium.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TED.2011.2147789
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Fig. 3. Fabrication steps. (a) Cu/PI laminate adhered on carrier. (b) Photo
lithography. (c) Reactive ion etching. (d) Spin-on PI layer. (e) Laser cutting.
(f) PDMS casting. (g) Final encapsulation with PDMS.
TABLE I
H IGH AND L OW M AGNITUDE L EVELS FOR E ACH OF
THE D ESIGN FACTORS AS S HOWN IN F IG . 1
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TABLE II
ANOVA TABLE
Fig. 5. Plot of normal probability versus the effect of the design factor on
plastic strain.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
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Interaction plot. (a) Interaction between PI width and PI thickness. (b) Interaction between PI width and PI elastic modulus.
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Fig. 8. Contour plot and response surface. (a) Contour plot of PI width and PI thickness. (b) Contour plot of PI width and PI elastic modulus. (c) Response
surface of PI width and PI thickness. (d) Response surface of PI width and PI elastic modulus.
Fig. 9. Cubic plot of PI width, PI thickness, and PI elastic modulus and its
corresponding plastic strain.
This equation shows that the plastic strain in the metal reduces
with an increase in the PI width, the PI thickness, and the
PI elastic modulus. The width has the most significant effect
because of the rather large coefficient (1.25) compared to
the other coefficients in the equation. Fig. 8(a) and (b) shows
Fig. 10. Top view of the PI-enhanced stretchable interconnect. The dimensions are according to the optimized parameters from DOE analysis.
contour plots of the PI width and thickness and the PI width and
elastic modulus, respectively. Corresponding to these contour
plots, the response surfaces for the plastic strain in the Cu
obtained from the regression model are shown in Fig. 8(c) and
(d). Because of interactions, the contour lines of the plastic
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Fig. 11. Optical images taken in situ while stretching to (a) 0%, (b) 40%, (c) 80%, (d) 120%, (e) 160%, and (f) 200%.
strain in both Fig. 8(a) and (b) are curved (and the response
surfaces in Fig. 8(c) and (d) are twisted planes). It is desirable
to have an as low as possible plastic strain in the metal when
stretching. Therefore, from both contour plots and response
surfaces, one can determine the options for reducing the plastic
strain in the metal, i.e., by increasing the PI width and the PI
thickness and by using a PI with a higher elastic modulus. This
trend can be confirmed and elaborated through a cubic plot, as
shown in Fig. 9. At the lower left corner of the cube, where the
PI width (0.1 mm), thickness (0.027 mm), and elastic modulus
(3.3 GPa) all have a low magnitude, one obtains the highest
plastic strain in the Cu. This corner is clearly undesirable for
designing a reliable stretchable interconnect. In contrast, in the
opposite corner of the cube, where all three design factors have
a high magnitude, one can obtain the lowest plastic strain in the
metal. Therefore, design parameters with a PI width of 0.3 mm,
a PI thickness of 0.059 mm, and a PI elastic modulus of
8.5 GPa are optimal for reducing the plastic strain in the Cu
upon stretching, i.e., they are the desired parameters. These
three factors with high level are preferable for having a good
reliability, and therefore, they are chosen for sample fabrication
and for further experimental studies. It should be noted that the
aforementioned trend is valid only within the specific design
space, as specified in Table I.
C. In Situ Observation of the Deformation Behavior
To verify the design and investigate the performance,
a stretchable interconnect with a PI-enhanced layer was
fabricated according to the optimized parameters obtained from
the DOE analysis. The PI layer is 300 m wide and 59 m thick
and has an elastic modulus of 8.5 GPa. Fig. 10 shows a top view
of a sample. The Cu resides in the center of the meander and is
fully embedded in the PI layer. The deforming processes, failure mechanisms, and electromechanical performance of these
samples subjected to uniaxial stretching were investigated using
a home-built tensile tester and in situ monitored by a highresolution Hirox KH-7700 optical microscope. All tests were
performed at room temperature with a constant displacement
rate of 2.5 104 s1 . During tensile testing, the electrical
resistance of the patterned metal circuits was recorded every
0.5 s by an Agilent 34420A multimeter. The four-point resistance measuring technique was used so that the resistance of
the connecting wires can be neglected.
Fig. 11(a)(f) shows a sequence of in situ observations of
samples, starting at 0% up to 200% elongation. The images
show that the deformation processes (geometrical opening and
substrate thinning) are similar as the ones observed in sample
without a PI layer [1], [12]. However, it is found that there
is a periodic color change at every crest of the meander, as
illustrated in the inset of Fig. 11(b). This color change is identified as a severe out-of-plane deformation of the interconnect
and will be discussed in detail further on. In addition to the
out-of-plane deformation, it is found that the PDMS substrate
has a cleavage failure when stretching for 200% elongation.
Surprisingly, at this extreme elongation, the Cu track is still
conducting. No interfacial delamination was observed between
the Cu and the PI layer. In other words, the Cu is very well
protected by the PI layer, although the substrate already failed.
D. In Situ Electromechanical Measurements: One-Time
Stretching and Cyclic Stretching
Fig. 12 shows the result of an electromechanical measurement of a PI-enhanced stretchable interconnect sample during
one-time stretching. The electrical resistance was continuously
recorded until metal rupture. Unlike our prior investigation
[1], [12], the measured electrical resistance of the PI-enhanced
stretchable interconnect is not constant but changes with elongation. Starting from 110% elongation, the electrical resistance
gradually increases. This phenomenon can be explained by
the fact that multiple microcracks initiate and propagate in
the metal. This microcrack propagation is retarded and held
from complete metal rupture by the PI layer. This gives the
possibility to extend or maximize the ultimate elongation of
the stretchable interconnect. In this investigation, the ultimate
elongation is 250%, which is two times the maximum magnitude of elongation shown in our prior research [1], where no PI
layer was used. It should be noted that the onset of interfacial
delamination between the PI layer and the PDMS substrate is
marked at 65% elongation, as shown in the inset of Fig. 12.
Even though this delamination exists, the metal is still fully
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Fig. 14. (a) Surface topography obtained from the optical interfometry and
its corresponding optical image at 40% elongation. (b) Deformation of PIenhanced stretchable interconnect at 40% elongation obtained from FEM.
Fig. 15. Plastic strain distribution along the curve length of one unit of
stretchable interconnect.
E. Numerical Modeling
To confirm the aforementioned conclusion of out-of-plane
deformation (see Fig. 11), both optical profilometry (white
light interferometry) and finite-element simulations are done.
Fig. 14(a) left shows the surface topography of the stretched
PI-enhanced interconnect at 40% elongation as obtained from
the optical interferometer. Fig. 14(a) right is the corresponding
optical image. It is clear that the PI-enhanced stretchable interconnect emerges from the substrate due to substrate thinning.
Furthermore, it is found that every crest deforms out of plane
from the substrate, creating a noncontinuously emerged pattern
(or M-shape pattern). This out-of-plane deformation of every
crest can be explained by the numerical simulation. Fig. 14(b)
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Fig. 16. Stress (xx ) distribution in the longitudinal direction (stretching direction) and its local free-body diagram at the crest.
shows the iso-view and top view (inset) of the deformed sample
at 40% elongation. The crest deforms out of plane, and the arms
deform by local twisting. This simulated deformation explains
the emerged noncontinuous pattern.
The prominent improvement of one-time stretching and
cyclic stretching compared to samples without PI can be explained by the redistribution of the plastic strain in the metal due
to the PI presence. Fig. 15 shows the maximum plastic strain
distribution along the curve length of one unit of stretchable
interconnect at 40% elongation. Taking advantage of symmetry,
one-fourth of the plastic strain distribution along the one unit
of horseshoe meander is plotted. It is found that the plastic
strain is widely distributed along the curve length, instead of
concentrating on the local area of the crest as is the case for
samples without PI [2]. This indicates that the PI layer effectively redistributes the plastic strain in the metal and therefore
improves the reliability of the stretchable interconnect. In our
previous research [2], [12], we showed that in the samples
without PI, the failure is located at every crest of the horseshoe.
However, the PI-enhanced stretchable interconnect is expected
to fail (metal fracture) around the arms. This failure location
of the PI-enhanced meander can be explained by the stress
distribution in the metal. By plotting the longitudinal tensile
stress component (xx ) at 40% elongation on the left side of
Fig. 16, it is shown that the crest of the PI-enhanced meander
has a compressive stress, which is known not to cause fast
metal rupture (tensile stress is more dangerous). Furthermore,
this compressive stress is also responsible for the out-of-plane
deformation at the crest. Fig. 16 right shows the free-body
diagram. When the PI-enhanced stretchable interconnect is subjected to elongation, not only tensile stress but also a bending
moment is generated in the metal. The tensile stress (xx )
mainly comes from the longitudinal stretching, and the bending
moment (M) is caused by the geometrical opening. It has been
proven that the geometrical opening contributes to the majority
of the elongation [1], [12]. Consequently, the bending moment
dominates the stress distribution in the metal. Because of the
PI layer (dashed lines in Fig. 16 upper right), the bending
moment from the geometrical opening generates a gradient of
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[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
Mario Gonzalez received the M.Sc. degree in materials science from the University of Nuevo Leon,
Nuevo Leon, Mexico, in 1996 and the PhD degree in
mechanical and materials engineering from the Ecole
Centrale Paris, Paris, France, in 2001.
Since then, he has been with IMEC, Leuven,
Belgium, as a Research Scientist. He is the author or
a coauthor of more than 80 papers in areas including
numerical FE simulation, mechanical and thermomechanical reliability analysis of packaging, MEMS,
and stretchable interconnections.
Jan Vanfleteren received the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from the Ghent University, Ghent,
Belgium, in 1987.
He is currently a Senior Engineer and Project
Manager with the Center for Microsystems Technology, IMEC, Leuven, Belgium, and is involved in
the development of novel interconnection, assembly
and substrate technologies, particularly in the field
of flexible and stretchable electronics. In 2004, he
was appointed as Part-Time Professor with Ghent
University. He is the author or a coauthor of more
than 100 papers in international journals and conferences. He is the holder of
six patents/patent applications.
Dr. Vanfleteren is a Member of International Microelectronics and Packaging
Society.