Influence of a hot and humid environment on thermal transport across the interface between a Ag thin-film line and a substrate

Abstract To evaluate the reliability of Ag thin-film lines for a wide range of applications in electronic devices, knowledge of the thermal transport across the interface between the line and the underlying substrate is of great importance. This is because such thermal transport significantly affects the temperature distribution in the line, the electrical performance of the line and the service life of the device the line is installed on. In this work, we examine the influence of a hot and humid environment on the thermal transport across the interface between a Ag thin-film line and a substrate. By performing a series of current-stressing experiments using the four-point probe method at atmospheric conditions (296 K and 30 RH%) on a Ag thin-film line for different durations of exposure to a hot and humid environment (323 K and 90 RH%), the electrical resistivity was found to increase with the exposure duration. Such an increase is believed to be the result of a decrease in the interfacial thermal conductance, which indicates less thermal transport from the line to the substrate. Moreover, by observing the surface morphology changes in the line and conducting a one-dimensional electro-thermal analysis, such variations can be attributed to the generation and growth of voids within the line, which hinder heat transfer from the line to the substrate through the interface.