This collaborative project seeks to address a longstanding problem in multilayer thin film devices adhesive failure and attendant delamination. The research will lead to the development of new experimental and computational tools for studying the adhesive failure in multilayer thin film devices critical to microelectronic packaging. Specifically, the complex relationships between surface properties, process-induced residual stress, and loading rate will be investigated to achieve a more fundamental understanding of interfacial failure. Experimental efforts focus on creating a protocol to generate controlled interfacial delamination using the inertial effects associated with laser generated stress waves. This elegant, non-contacting loading technique provides a robust method for characterizing interfacial failure. The experiments are supported by the development of a combined spectral/finite element scheme to extract the interfacial fracture energy and evaluate the evolution of interface tractions and the components of energy flowing into the crack-tip. The testing and analysis protocols developed under this GOALI program will be transitioned for use by the microelectronics industry. The project will support the education and training of graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Illinois. These students will be part of an interdisciplinary research group at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology that will foster critical interactions with other students and faculty through group meetings, seminars and co-located lab facilities.
