Electromigration and electrical sintering in printed silver from high current at room temperature

Abstract

Improved understanding of the reliability and failure physics of metal nanoparticle conductive inks would facilitate their large-scale deployment across a range of flexible electronics applications. We conduct room-temperature electromigration experiments on printed silver nanoparticle conductive ink test devices. We observe significant variation in failure time, location, and structure during these tests and during post-failure analysis with optical and electron microscopy. We use in situ Atomic Force Microscopy measurements to track volume changes in the sample as a function of time. These measurements provide additional data and understanding of the failure process within printed silver nanoparticle conductive inks.