An initiative to develop a new approach for
fracture characterization of silicon die
crack
P. Lina, M. Xueb,*, C. M. Chaib, H.S. Zhangb, H. Xub, K. Zhoua
a
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, 50
Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
b
Infineon Technologies Pte Ltd, 8 Kallang Sector, Singapore 349282, Singapore
Phone: +65 6840 0549; Fax: +65 6840 0542; Email: ming.xue@infineon.com
Abstract-A new approach for fracture characterization of a
particular case study on silicon die crack is presented. It consists of
four phases - visual inspection, molecular dynamics, finite element
method and experiment. This work aims to use these techniques to
investigate and provide a theoretical explanation and analysis of
the physical failure modes and mechanisms involved, from the
molecular to package level.
I. INTRODUCTION
Fracture in silicon (Si) has always been known as a major
reliability problem in the integrated circuit (IC) packaging
and its study has been long well-established. However, with
the increase in vertical integration and complexity of
materials involved in three-dimensional (3D) IC, it has
become more challenging to obtain fracture-related data of
IC packaging due to the difficulties in performing precisely
controlled experiments. There is also a lack of atomic scale
simulations that allow quantitative comparison with fracture
experiments, such as failure strength of the Si die [1],
investigated using the three-point bending test [2, 3]. The
problem is further compounded in 3D ICs when there may
be more than one die present.
Conventionally, for a typical die crack failure analysis
(FA), visual inspection is first conducted to observe the
failure mode and crack fractography. Subsequently, the
crack initiation point and the root cause of failure can be
examined and predicted respectively. Many have also
employed the use of finite element modeling (FEM) to
analyze the stress distribution of the Si die at the package
level to determine the critical condition for failure to occur.
However, such techniques are inadequate for the
characterization of failure modes and mechanisms in 3D IC
packaging as it fails to provide an understanding and
explanation to the failure mechanisms involved. Therefore,
new FA approaches are needed to study the physical failure
modes and mechanisms for better understanding of the
problems involved, leading to improvement of 3D IC
packaging techniques and processes.
In this work, a new FA approach, which consists of four
phases, is developed to understand and characterize a
particular Si die crack (see Fig. 1). In this failure case study,
a <100> Si die has been fractured into two parts. Within the
IC package, there is another similar <111> Si die located on
the other end of the package that is undamaged. The first
phase of analysis consists of the conventional FA techniques
978-1-4799-9928-6/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE
to provide an overview of the site of failure. However, based
on visual inspection, there is no apparent crack initiation
point and crack fractography information is limited in this
case. As such, the prediction of the root cause of failure is
rather challenging.
In the second phase, molecular dynamics (MD)
simulation is incorporated to understand the fundamental
fracture mechanics for the particular die crack failure and
give new insights to the fracture behavior of Si at the
atomistic level. MD is an excellent and powerful simulation
tool for modeling at the atomistic level. It is able to provide
accurate description of atomic interaction and does not
require any assumption to be made, unlike in FEA and
experiments. These are especially essential with the
complexity and miniaturization of 3D ICs and when
experimental techniques can no longer determine the
material properties accurately. Many researchers have also
employed MD to understand failures and material properties
[4, 5].
Therefore, since no apparent crack initiation point is
found and failure only occurs in the <100> die but not in the
<111> die, it is hypothesized that failure may be stress
driven and the failure mode is probably due to the weakness
in the crystallographic planes. Hence, MD simulation will
be performed to understand the effect of crystallographic
orientations on the stress-strain relation and failure
mechanism of the single-crystal Si cell. The stress-strain
relations are then obtained and analyzed to provide an
insight to the fracture strength and failure mode of the Si die
of different orientations.
As the MD model can only model systems up to several
thousand atoms, due to costly computation time and
calculation, it is impractical and almost impossible to use
MD to build the full scale model. Hence, in the third phase,
FEM will be performed to provide the stress distribution of
the Si dies at the package level when subjected to
temperature cyclic loading, and also investigate the
influence of other components of the package on the dies.
Consequently, the stress states of the dies at the different
thermal loadings can be evaluated and determined if the
thermomechanical induced stresses are below the fracture
limit of the Si dies. As such, the critical condition that
causes the failure can be identified and mitigation can be
carried out to prevent similar failure from occurring.
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 Physical validation
Physical assessment
2. Molecular
dynamics
‡Failure modes
‡Fundamental
‡Crack fractography fracture mechanics.
‡Atomic description
of fracture behavior
of materials.
1. Visual
inspection
Visual failure modes
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the four phases of the new approach for fracture characterization of silicon die crack
Lastly, in the fourth phase, the simulation results will be
validated with experiment findings qualitatively. Three-
point bend test is designed to understand the fracture
strengths and modes involved at the macroscale. The
experiment results can be observed under scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) to examine for similar crack
fractography and failure mode that are seen in the damaged
die. As such, the Si die crack failure and its failure
mechanism can be fully characterized and understood at
both the molecular and package level. This study aims to
develop a novel FA approach to increase the accuracy of
root cause deduction and characterization of the fracture in
Si die.
II. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In the first phase, visual inspection has been conducted on
the failed sample via SEM, a smooth fracture plane of (011)
that is parallel to the long side of the <100> Si die is
observed with no apparent initiation (see Fig. 2). Under x-
ray inspection, a significant void in the die attach of <100>
Si die is also observed. The failed die has an orientation of
x[100]/y[011]/z[0-11]. From the crack fractography, the
fracture surface is relatively flat, which is believed to be the
cleavage plane of Si.
[>@
\>@
]>@
Fig. 2. SEM imaging of the crack surface of the damaged <100> Si die.
Courtesy of Infineon Technologies Pte Ltd.
Subsequently, molecular dynamics simulation is
performed to understand the fundamental fracture
mechanics of this particular fracture behaviour of the single-
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Experiments
‡Stress states at
package level under
different conditions. ‡In-situ
nanomechanical
‡Die interaction with
other components. testing
‡Observe similar
failure mode
3. Finite element
method
Package level hypothesis
crystal Si. Single-crystal Si samples with different
crystallographic orientations are simulated under tensile
loading. The atomic interactions between the Si atoms are
described by the Tersoff potential. The dimensions of the
computational cells are set as 15.4 × 24.4 × 44.5 nm. The
dimensions of the MD cell are chosen such that it represents
a scale-down model of the actual die. Periodic boundary
condition is applied in the x-, y- and z-directions to simulate
bulk Si. It is then subjected to different loading directions to
investigate the effect of crystallographic orientations on the
fracture strength of the Si die. The stress-strain curves are
obtained and analyzed.
Figure 3 shows the stress-strain relations obtained at 300
K for single-crystal Si with different crystallographic
directions, subjected to different loading directions, via MD
simulations. For <100> Si die, subjected to loading in [010],
[001], [011] and [0-11] direction are denoted by (100)/[010],
(100)/[001], (100)/[011] and (100)/[0-11] respectively. For
<111> Si die, subjected to loading in [1-10] and [11-2] are
denoted by (111)/[1-10] and (111)/[11-2] respectively.
It is observed that the x[100]/y[010]/z[001] Si crystal with
has the highest fracture strength of ~31 GPa, when subjected
to tensile loading. Since, the (010) and (001) belong to the
same family of {100} crystallographic planes, when loaded
in both the y- and z-directions, their fracture strengths and
elastic moduli are comparable.
For the x[100]/y[011]/z[0-11] Si crystal, which has the
same orientation as that of the failed sample, when loaded in
both the y- and z-directions, the fracture strengths are of ~29
GPa. Similarly, since tensile loading in the y- and z-
directions are both in the <110> directions, the different
loading directions of [011] and [0-11] have no effect on the
fracture strength and elastic modulus. The fracture strength
for this case is only slightly lower than that of the die with
orientation of x[100]/y[010]/z[001]. This small difference in
fracture strength is due to the fact that when tensile loading
is applied to the x[100]/y[010]/z[001] oriented Si cell,
fracture occurs in the <110> through sliding dislocation
instead of brittle fracture in the <100> direction, as shown in
Fig. 4a. Hence, for both x[100]/y[010]/z[001] and
 Fig. 4. Atomic configurations of (a) x[100]/y[010]/z[001], (b)
x[100]/y[011]/z[0-11] and (c) x[111]/y[1-10]/z[11-2] oriented Si cells
subjected to tensile loading in the y-direction at different strains. Atoms are
highlighted in red to illustrate the direction of fracture.

simulation is very promising as it is able to provide the

Fig. 3. Stress-strain relationship for single-crystal Si thin film of theoretical explanation for the effect of the different
different crystallographic directions. crystallographic orientations on the fracture strength and
modes involved in a Si die crack.
x[100]/y[011]/z[0-11] cases, they undergo similar fracture in
Past failures have evident that subjecting Si die to
the {110} plane and thus, they will have comparable
temperature cyclic conditions, such as the reflow process,
fracture strengths (see Fig. 4). Experimentally, Ando et al
have resulted in catastrophically fracture of the Si die.
[6] also reported that the average fracture strengths of
Hence, in the next phase, FEA is carried out to provide a
(100)/<010> and (100)/<011> single crystal Si are similar
stress analysis of the warpage of the die under temperature
with values of ~5.36 GPa and ~4.82 GPa respectively.
cyclic loading as shown in Fig 5. The FEA employed in this
Hence, the MD observation is coherent with these
study is via ANSYS full 3D static structure simulation. Both
experimental findings.
of the <100> and <111> dies are assumed to be
However, for the <111> single-crystal Si with an
homogeneous and linearly elastic with Young Moduli of
orientation of x[111]/y[1-10]/z[11-2], which has the exact
130 and 168 GPa and Poisson ratio of 0.064 and 0.262
orientation of the second die present in the IC package, the
respectively [13]. The model is then subjected to five
fracture strength is lowered by ~30-50%, as compared to the
different stages of temperature loading, (i) 448 K, (ii) 296
earlier cases, regardless of loading direction.
K, (iii) 233 K, (iv) 523 K and (v) 296 K. The stress
Zhang et al [7] explained that the energy required for
distribution of the dies during the heating and cooling
cleavage is proportional to the bond density, which is the
processes are obtained and analyzed.
number of bonds per unit area. When sufficient stress is
Figure 6 shows the stress paths retrieved from the thermal
applied to single-crystal Si, it will cleave along a plane or
cyclic stress analysis, according to the vertical lines
fracture in a direction that involves the least number of
indicated in Fig. 5. Due to the difference in crystallographic
atomic bonds to be broken. The relative bond densities
orientations, the dies will have different mechanical
across the planes of {111}, {110}, {112} and {100} of Si is
properties and thus, results in different stress profiles. It is
in the ratio of 1 : 1.5 : 2 : 3 [7, 8]. Furthermore, many noted that the stress profile for the <100> die is much wider
theoretical studies have also shown that when Si is subjected as compared to that of the <111> die, indicating that the
to mechanical stresses at ambient temperature, it will cleave <100> die is subjected to a greater degree of warpage during
in the planes with the low bond densities into {111} as the thermal cyclic loading. Conversely, for the <111> die, the
most preferred cleavage plane before propagating in the stress profiles for the different thermal loadings remain
<110> or <112> directions [9-11]. Therefore, the different close to the neutral axis. The differences in the stress
fracture planes will have different bond densities, resulting variation between <100> and <111> dies are more apparent
in different fracture strength. in Fig. 6a and c. Furthermore, the FEA results also provide
The slight difference in elastic moduli represented by the the magnitude of the range of thermomechancial stresses
slope of the elastic region of the stress-strain curve can be experienced by the dies during assembly process, in
explained by high anisotropic properties of covalent bonds particular the reflow process.
directionality which defines the strength of covalent
compounds. Based on the elastic moduli, E, derived from
Fig. 3, E of (100)/[011] and (111)/[1-10] are comparable,
~124 and ~129 GPa respectively, while for (100)/[010], its
E is slightly lower, ~101.5 GPa. From literature [12], the
elastic constants of bulk Si at 298 K are 130 and 169 GPa
for <100> and <110> directions respectively. The deviation
from literature values are due to size effect, whereby the
reduction of size increases the surface effect and thus,
Fig. 5. ANSYS simulation model of the IC package under thermal cyclic
affecting the mechanical properties of Si. Overall, MD loading.

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 Fig. 7. (a) Introduction of a through notch at the edge of the die. (b)
Three-point bend test experimental set-up.

first propagate in the <112> direction before deflecting to

<110> and <111> directions.
Overall, the fracture strengths determined by the
Fig. 6. Stress paths of the <111> and <100> dies during IC package (a) experiment have shown that the thermomechanical stresses
cooling from 448 to 296 K, (b) cooling from 296 to 233 K, (c) heating from
233 to 523 K and (d) cooling from 523 to 296 K.
experienced by the dies during the thermal reflow processes
are well below the fracture limit of the good die specimen.
Lastly, three-point bend test is performed on bare Si dies Hence, in reference to the failure case study, in order for
with different orientations to validate the MD simulation such a failure phenomenon to occur, a microdefect such as a
findings, investigate the failure modes involved and notch must be present to cause a substantial reduction in the
determine the fracture strength of bare die under bending. fracture strength. In addition, for the smooth crack surface
The effect of a notch which has a size of 1/50 of the length observed in the failed die, the notch must be aligned to the
of the die is also considered (see Fig. 7a). The die specimen {110} plane as shown in the (110)/[0-11] case of Fig. 9b.
has a dimension of 10 × 10 × 0.5 mm. An INSTRON tester
using 500N load cell is employed to perform the bend test as III. CONCLUSION
shown in Fig. 7b. A load span of 8 mm is also used to
ensure that specimen is subjected to pure bending only. The In this study, a new approach is developed to understand
fracture strengths and the failure modes are obtained and the failure mechanism of a smooth die crack in a particular
analyzed. case study. Firstly, visual inspection is carried out to
From the experiment data obtained in Fig. 8, it can be understand the failure modes involved. No apparent crack
observed that the same family of planes with the same bond initiation point and limited crack fractography are found.
densities, have relative similar fracture strengths, which is Moreover, failure only occurs in the <100> die but not in
coherent to that of MD findings. It is noted that <100> die the <111> die and thus, it is hypothesized that failure may
subjected to bending in the <100> directions have the be stress driven and the failure mode is probably due to the
highest fracture strength of ~730 MPa while for the rest of weakness in the crystallographic planes.
cases, the fracture strengths are ~450 MPa. With the
addition of notch, the fracture strengths for all the cases are Good die specimens
significantly reduced to the range of 150 to 250 MPa, Notched die specimens
regardless of the orientation of the die. The results also
indicate that x[100]/y[010]/z[001] oriented die is more
sensitive to microdefects. Parallel study is also carried via
MD simulation to investigate the effect of notch. Similar
phenomenon is also observed in the MD results whereby the
presence of an edge notch results in a substantial decrease in
the fracture strength such that the fracture strengths for all
the cases become comparable.
The crack propagation paths of the different dies
subjected to bending in the different directions are shown in
Fig. 9a and b and they are found to be similar to that of the
MD simulated results (see Fig. 9c). For the (100)/[001] case,
both the experimental and simulation results show that the Fig. 8. Maximum fracture stresses of the dies subjected to bending in the
crack propagates in the <110> direction instead of the different directions are plotted for comparison. The good dies are
represented by solid lines while, the notched dies are represented by dotted
<100> direction. While for the (100)/[0-11] case, both paths
lines.
prove that the crack propagate via the preferred cleavage
direction of <110>. However, for the (111)/[112] case, crack

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Fig. 9. Crack fractography of (a) the good dies and (b) the notched dies
of different orientations subjected to loading in different directions. The
crack propagation paths are outlined in red. (c) MD atomic configurations
of notched Si cells under tensile loading are also obtained for comparison.
Subsequently, MD simulation is carried out to understand
the effect of crystallographic orientation on the stress-strain
relation and failure mechanism of single-crystal Si.
Simulation results obtained have shown that {110} and
{112} planes have the low fracture strengths due to their
low bond densities as compared to the {100} planes. Hence
{112} and {110} planes are known to be the preferred
cleavage planes of single-crystal Si. These results are very
promising as they are able to provide an understanding and
explanation to the difference in failure modes observed in Si
dies with different crystal orientations.
FEA simulation is also performed to simulate stress
distribution of the <100> and <111> dies on the whole IC
package under temperature cyclic loading. The simulation
results provide the range of thermomechanical stress states
experienced by the die during assembly process, in
particular the reflow process. Furthermore, the stress
profiles also revealed that the <100> die experienced a
greater degree of warpage as compared to the <111> die, as
a result of their difference in orientation. Hence, the <100>
die has a higher probability of an early failure as compared
to the <111> die.
In the last phase of failure analysis, three-point bend test
is carried out to validate the MD findings, investigate the
failure modes involved and to determine the fracture limit of
bare die at the macroscale. It is found that the
thermomechanical stresses that are induced by the assembly
processes are well below the fracture limit. However, when
a notch is added to the edge of the specimen, the fracture
strength is greatly reduced, regardless of orientation. Hence,
with reference to the failure case study, this indicates that a
microdefect, such as an edge notch, must be present and
aligned to the weakest fracture plane to result in such a
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failure. Such microdefects may be due to during wafer
dicing or mechanical handling. Further visual inspection has
to be done to confirm the presence of such anomaly in the
failed die.
Therefore, in this novel approach, FA is carried out from
the molecular level to the package level. As such, the
theoretical explanation of the failure modes and mechanisms
involved can be explained and understood at both the
molecular and macro level. Henceforth, the accuracy of root
cause deduction and characterization of the fracture in Si die
can be improved and the failure modes and mechanisms
involved can be better understood. In future, this approach
can be adopted to analyze more complex 3D ICs failure
studies, such as the study of adhesion strengths and the
delamination of bi-and multilayer structures.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work is supported by Economic Development Board
of Singapore and Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Pte
Ltd through the Industrial Postgraduate Programme,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
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