Study on interfacial interaction energy of Cu–SAM–epoxy systems in a hot and humid environment

Due to poor adhesion, the interfacial delamination is one of the typical failure modes in electronic packages. In this paper, two kinds of self-assembly monolayers (SAMs), SAMA and SAME, are added to Cu–epoxy interface and the effects of temperature, moisture, and cross-link conversion on the modified interfaces are investigated with molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The results show that the interfacial interaction energy of the systems with SAMA increases with the increasing temperature, decreasing moisture content, and cross-link conversion. However, the interfacial interaction energy of the systems with SAME decreases with the increasing temperature and moisture content, while it is reluctant to the cross-link conversion. In addition, the simulation reveals that the covalent bonds between SAMA and epoxy enhance the interfacial adhesion of Cu–epoxy. However, the nonbond interactions of SAME and epoxy resin weaken the interfacial adhesion. This paper provides a new method for research and valuation the effects of SAM or other adhesive on interfacial adhesion. MD simulation is an efficient tool in predicting the performances of materials.