Creep characterization of solder bumps using nanoindentation

Current nanoindentation techniques for the measurement of creep properties are applicable to viscoplastic materials with negligible elastic deformations. A new technique for characterization of creep behavior is needed for situations where the elastic deformation plays a significant role. In this paper, the effect of elastic deformation on the determination of creep parameters using nanoindentation with a self-similar nanoindenter tip is evaluated using finite element analysis (FEA). It is found that the creep exponent measured from nanoindentation without taking into account of the contribution of elastic deformation tends to be higher than the actual value. An effective correction method is developed to consider the elastic deformation in the calculation of creep parameters. FEA shows that this method provides accurate creep exponent. The creep parameters, namely the creep exponent and activation energy, were measured for three types of reflowed solder bumps using the nanoindentation method. The measured parameters were verified using FEA. The results show that the new correction approach allows extraction of creep parameters with precision from nanoindentation data.