Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T01:17:13.786Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Electromigration and IC Interconnects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2013

Carl V. Thompson  and
James R. Lloyd
Get access

Extract

A modern integrated circuit (IC) is composed of 106 or more electronic devices. They are connected to form a circuit through the use of metallic films patterned into strips which function as wires to interconnect devices. These wires are usually simply referred to as interconnects. In an IC occupying the surface of a 1 cm2 Si chip, there can be 10 m of total interconnect length. This length is in the form of more than 106 line segments contacting pairs of devices and different segments of the circuit. This enormous number of wires is made possible by their small widths. Interconnect widths as small as 0.55 μm are currently used in commercial circuits, and circuits and processes leading to smaller and smaller widths are continuously in development.

During operation of an IC, interconnects carry current densities as high as 4 × 105 A/cm2. This should be compared with a current density of 102 A/cm2, the maximum allowed for house wiring. Thin-film conductors can carry these high current densities only because of the relatively good heat sinking provided by the Si substrate.

Type
Materials Reliability in Microelectronics
Information
MRS Bulletin , Volume 18 , Issue 12 , December 1993 , pp. 19 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Blech, I.A. and Herring, C., Appl. Phys. Lett. 29 (1976) p. 131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Korhonen, M.A., Bargesen, P., Tu, K.N., and Li, C-Y., J. Appl. Phys. 73 (1993) p. 3790.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Black, J.R., IEEE Trans. Electron. Devices ED-16 (1969) p. 338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Shatzkes, M. and Lloyd, J.R., J. Appl. Phys. 59 (1986) p. 3890.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Blech, I.A., J. Appl. Phys. 47 (1976) p. 1203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Bertram, W.J., in VLSI Technology, 2nd ed., edited by Sze, S. M. (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1988), Chapter 14.Google Scholar
7.Thompson, C.V. and Kahn, H., J. Electron. Mater. 22 (1993) p. 581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Cho, J. and Thompson, C.V., J. Electron. Mater. 19 (1990) p. 1207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Muray, L.P., Rathbun, L.C., and Wolf, E.D., Appl. Phys. Lett. 53 (1988) p. 1414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Cho, J. and Thompson, C.V., Appl Phys. Lett. 54 (1989) p. 2577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Lloyd, J.R. and Kitchin, J., J. Appl. Phys. 69 (1991) p. 2117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Lloyd, J.R., in Materials Reliability in Microelectronics II, edited by Thompson, C.V. and Lloyd, J. R. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 265, Pittsburgh, PA, 1992) p. 177.Google Scholar
13.Root, B.J. and Turner, T., Proc. 23rd Annu. Int. Rel. Phys. Symp. IEEE, 100 (1985) p. 100.Google Scholar
14.Hong, C.C. and Crook, D.L., in Reference 13, p. 108.Google Scholar
15.Koch, R.H., Lloyd, J.R., and Cronin, J.R., Phys. Rev. Lett. 65 (1985) p. 2484.Google Scholar
16.Vollkommer, E., Bohn, H.G., Robrock, K-H., and Schilling, W., Proc. 28th Annu. Int. Rel. Phys. Symp. IEEE, 51 (1990).Google Scholar
17.Lloyd, J.R. and Koch, R.H., Appl. Phys. Lett. 52 (1988) p. 914.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Walton, D.T., Frost, H.J., and Thompson, C.V., in Materials Reliability Issues in Microelectronics, edited by Lloyd, J.R., Yost, F., and Ho, P. S. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 225, Pittsburgh, PA, 1991) p. 219.Google Scholar
19.Atakov, E.M., Clement, J.J., and Miner, B., in “Materials Reliability in Microelectronics III,” edited by Rodbell, K.P., Filter, B., Ho, P.S., and Frost, H. J. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 309, Pittsburgh, PA, 1993) p. 133.Google Scholar
20.Sanchez, J. E. Jr., McKnelly, L.T., and Morris, J.W. Jr., J. Electron. Mater. 19 (1990) p. 1213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Rose, J., Appl. Phys. Lett. 61 (1992) p. 2170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Blech, I.A., Thin Solid Films 18 (1972) p. 117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Longworth, H.P. and Thompson, C.V., Appl. Phys. Lett. 60 (1992) p. 2219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Gadepally, K., Reddy, K., Hiew, S., Merrill, D., Lahri, R., and Biswal, M., Effect of TiW as Adhesion Layer, and Underlying Metal, on Electromigration Characteristics of Tungsten Via Plugs, Technology Development-FRC, National Semiconductor, M/S E120, 2900 Semiconductor Dr., Santa Clara, CA 95052-8090.CrossRefGoogle Scholar