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I/F Noise Measurements in Al-Si, Al-Si-V and Al-Si-V-Pd Alloy Films
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2011
Abstract
The electromigration lifetime of Al-Si (1 at.% Si) can be greatly increased by alloying with V and Pd (0.1 at.% V, 0.1 at.% Pd). This study reports on l/fα (α≈l) noise measurements in Al-Si, Al-Si-V and Al-Si-V-Pd alloy films. Samples were prepared by direct current (DC) sputtering, e-beam lithography and reactive-ion etching. The samples were annealed at 450 °C for 30 min and were not passivated. Test line dimensions were 800μm×l.2μm×0.5μm. 1/f noise was measured by a high-resolution alternating current (AC) bridge technique, which ensured that no electromigration occurred during the measurements. The sample-to-sample variation in normalized 1/f noise intensity for Al-Si, Al-Si-V and, Al-Si-V-Pd, measured at room temperature, was less than 10%. The smallest noise intensities were observed in the Al-Si-V-Pd films. The temperature dependence of the 1/f noise of Al-Si films shows a maximum at 338 K allowing the determination of the activation energy of the noise generating process (Ea = 0.75 eV). Above 400 K the resistance of the samples became unstable preventing reliable noise measurements. The instabilities were probably caused by the dissolution of very small Si precipitates (<10 nm). This is important information because the dissolution will also take place during electromigration lifetime experiments.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 1994
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