Crack and delamination risk evaluation of thin silicon applications based on fracture mechanics approaches

Enhanced miniaturization and system integration of microelectronics components demands growth in novel solutions toward embedding active and passive components into substrates, clothes, protective sleeves of consumer goods - smart, thin applications in general. As a result, the embedding of very thin silicon dies and metallic structures into highly flexible polymeric, paper like or textile materials causes several mechanical problems preventing those applications from being utilized. This paper intends to demonstrate and discuss advantages and needs of using fully parameterized finite element modeling techniques for design optimizations of thin devices on the basis of damage evaluation and fracture mechanics approaches. For improving that method, the evaluation of mixed mode interface delamination phenomena and fracture of embedded thin silicon were combined with experimental investigations.