Thermal and electrical aging of laser braze-welded aluminum–copper interconnects

Aluminum–copper (Al–Cu) interconnects are of great interest for a variety of electrical applications, such as lithium-ion batteries. In this paper, the effects of thermal and electrical aging on the intermetallic compound growth of laser braze-welded Al–Cu interconnects are reported. Thermal aging was studied in a temperature range from 200 to 500 °C for durations between 1 and 120 h. Electrical aging was studied with 200 A direct current application with different polarities and durations between 1 and 24 h. The formation of intermetallic compounds was found to be dependent on the type of aging and, for electrical aging, on the polarity of the current. The growth of intermetallic compounds under the influence of the electric current was distinctly higher than for thermal annealing conditions. The formation of voids at the transition between intermetallic compounds indicates that electromigration may be the main driving force for the accelerated intermetallic growth.