Metal bond pad with cobalt interconnect layer and solder thereon

A method of forming an integrated circuit, comprising:

• providing a substrate including at least one integrated circuit (IC) device formed thereon having an uppermost metal interconnect layer which provides a plurality of bond pads coupled to circuit nodes on said IC device, said plurality of bond pads including a metal bond pad area comprising primarily aluminum;
• depositing a cobalt comprising connection layer directly on said aluminum metal bond pad area;
• patterning said cobalt comprising connection layer to provide a cobalt bond pad surface on said plurality of bond pads;
• and
• forming a solder ball directly on the cobalt bond pad surface of the cobalt comprising connection layer to form a three layer stack of the solder ball directly on the cobalt comprising connection layer which is directly on the aluminum of the uppermost metal interconnect layer, wherein the solder ball comprises Sn and Ag.