The Detection of Corrosion Phenomena with pH‐Sensitive Fluorescent Dyes on Aluminum‐ and Gold‐Metallized IC Devices

Corrosion sites on IC devices are often difficult to detect before a significant amount of metallization deterioration occurs. The identification of corrosion sites in their early stages would be a powerful tool in studies of metallized IC device reliability and of corrosion processes themselves. Recently, this laboratory has been investigating metallization corrosion phenomena on IC devices. During these studies we explored the use of p H‐sensitive fluorescent dyes to decorate the IC device surface. After application of p H‐sensitive fluorescent dye molecules to the surface of the IC test device, an external d‐c bias was applied to the device which activated or deactivated localized fluorescence on the device. We believe this observed behavior relates to corrosion phenomena occurring on the metallization of the IC. Here we report the results of these exploratory experiments conducted on aluminum‐ and gold‐metallized IC test devices.