The critical oxide thickness for Pb-free reflow soldering on Cu substrate

Abstract Oxidation is an undesirable effect of reflow soldering. Non-wetting occurs when the oxide layer grows above the critical thickness. Characterizing the critical oxide thickness for soldering is challenging due to oxide's nano-scale thickness and irregular topographic surface. In this paper, the critical copper oxide thickness was characterized by Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and Transmission Electron Microscopy. Copper substrates were coated with an Organic-Solderable-Preservative (OSP) layer and baked at 150 °C and 85% Relative Humidity for different amounts of time. The onset of the non-wetting phenomenon occurred when the oxide thickness reached 18 ± 5 nm. As the oxide grew beyond this critical thickness, the percentage of non-wetting solder joint increased exponentially. The growth of the oxide thickness followed a parabolic rate law. The rate constant of oxidation was 0.6 × 10 − 15 cm 2 min − 1 . Oxidation resulted from interdiffusion of copper and oxygen atoms through the OSP and oxide layers. The oxidation mechanism will be presented and discussed.