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The Kinetics of Electromigration Damage in Copper Films Studied by Isothermal Resistance Change Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

C. W. Park  and
R. W. Vook
C. W. Park
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Solid State Science and Technology, Physics Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-1130
R. W. Vook
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Solid State Science and Technology, Physics Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-1130
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Abstract

Electromigration damage is one of the primary causes of the failure of interconnects in VLSI circuits. In this work, the response of Cu films to electromigration stress has been studied by an isothermal electrical resistance method. Accurate temperature measurement and control of Cu stripes stressed at elevated temperatures and high current densities were accomplished by use of a thin film thermistor. The activation energy and current density exponent were measured for vacuum evaporated Cu films and the values that were obtained are 0.79±0.02eV and 3.6±0.2, respectively. Scanning electron micrographs of stripes that underwent electromigration damage showed many voids in the cathode region, hillocks in the anode region, and both voids and hillocks in the rest of the stripe. The activation energies of two aluminum stripes were also measured by the same method. An average value of 0.54±0.02eV was obtained.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 225: Symposium G – Materials Reliability Issues in Microelectronics , 1991 , 119
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

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References

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