An analytical model to predict diffusion induced intermetallic compounds growth in Cu-Sn-Cu sandwich structures

•A theoretical model with clear physical meaning is developed to describe the intermetallic compound thickness growth mechanism under temperature aging and high current density conditions.•It shows that the intermetallic compound growth is a mass diffusion controlled process, which depends on the Arrhenius relations.•The temperature and mass diffusion coefficient show strong influence on the intermetallic compound growth.•The electromigration induced polarity effect on the intermetallic compound growth thickness is analyzed and shows reasonable accuracy compared with the experimental results.