Electromigration detection by means of low-frequency noise measurements in thin-film interconnections

Diligenti, A.; Neri, Bruno; Bagnoli, Paolo; Barsanti, A.; Rizzo, Milena

doi:10.1109/edl.1985.26247

Cited by 45 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The noise spectra are characterised by an 1/f γ behaviour and the frequency exponent γ is the most significant indicator of the kinetics of the process. The existence of a correlation between 1/f γ noise and lifetime of metal stripes subjected to Electromigration (EM) is known since 1985 11,12 . The frequency exponent γ is an increasing function of the stress conditions (current density j and temperature T).…”

Section: Electromigration In Metal Linesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-frequency noise measurements: applications, methodologies and instrumentation

Ciofi

Neri²

2003

SPIE Proceedings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The analysis of the low frequency noise generated in solid state devices represents a key factor in the era of VLSI technology. This analysis is mandatory in order to obtain a characterization of the source of disturbances which cause a degradation of the signal to noise ratio. In fact, the increasing miniaturization level of modern integrated circuits leads to a significant increase in the noise to signal ratio, thus making noise one of the main limiting factors for pursuing the ultimate miniaturization limits. Moreover, as low frequency noise can be used as a probe capable of investigating the phenomena occurring at a microscopic scale, it can be useful for characterizing the quality and the reliability of microelectronic materials and devices. In the first part of this paper, as an example of possible applications, an overview of the utilization of Low Frequency Noise Measurement (LFNM) technique to the study of the most frequent causes of failure in integrated circuits and discrete components is presented and the need for purposely designed instrumentation for this type of study will be put in evidence. Starting from the examples presented in the first part, in the second part an overview of the instrumentation and procedures required to obtain a minimization of the background noise of the entire measurement system is presented. In fact, especially in the case of low frequency noise measurements (f< 1 Hz), the lack of standard, commercially available instrumentation characterized by the required sensitivity, may be one of the main obstacles to the utilization of LFNM technique. For this reason, a review of the most relevant results obtained by our research groups during the last few years in the design of dedicated ultra-low noise instrumentation and in the tuning up of the methodologies for the analysis of noise data, is presented.

show abstract

Section: Electromigration In Metal Linesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-frequency noise measurements: applications, methodologies and instrumentation

Ciofi

Neri²

2003

SPIE Proceedings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…5 A new metrology is therefore needed to characterize, at the nanoscale, the structure and the composition of the TSV-enabled interconnects and to relate them to the reliability of the emerging integrated circuits. 6,7 It would be desirable to fully understand what happens to the interconnect system prior to the catastrophic failure 8,9 and use that understanding to rapidly assess the interconnects’ susceptibility to the electromigration failure. Along these lines, Beyne et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…have suggested the existence of a threshold current density beyond which strong and irreversible modifications in the interconnects occur. 7 So, if we do not stress the test samples beyond the threshold current densities we should be able to investigate the pre-failure thermo-mechanical issues in the interconnects. Gousseau et al ., 18 in agreement with Doyen et al ., 19 observed a three-phase evolution of the electrical resistance in the TSV-enabled samples during EM, in which a long quiescent period is followed by a jump of about 10%, and then a rapid resistance rise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microwave evaluation of electromigration susceptibility in advanced interconnects

Sunday

Veksler

Cheung

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Traditional metrology has been unable to adequately address the needs of the emerging integrated circuits (ICs) at the nano scale; thus, new metrology and techniques are needed. For example, the reliability challenges in fabrication need to be well understood and controlled to facilitate mass production of through-substrate-via (TSV) enabled three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D-ICs). This requires new approaches to the metrology. In this paper, we use the microwave propagation characteristics to study the reliability issues that precede the physical damage caused by electromigration in the Cu-filled TSVs. The pre-failure microwave insertion losses and group delay are dependent on both the device temperature and the amount of current forced through the devices-under-test. The microwave insertion losses increase with the increase in the test temperature, while the group delay increases with the increase in the forced direct current magnitude. The microwave insertion losses are attributed to the defect mobility at the Cu-TiN interface, and the group delay changes are due to resistive heating in the interconnects, which perturbs the dielectric properties of the cladding dielectrics of the copper fill in the TSVs. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4992135

show abstract

“…In general, new metrology techniques are needed to characterize failure modes, especially at the nano scale, and to relate them to the reliability of structure and composition. 13,14…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Microwave Monitoring of Atmospheric Corrosion of Interconnects

Amoah

Veksler

Sunday

et al. 2018

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Traditional metrology has been unable to adequately address the reliability needs of emerging integrated circuits at the nano scale; thus, new metrology and techniques are needed. In this paper, we use microwave propagation characteristics (insertion loss and dispersion) to study the atmospheric interconnect corrosion under accelerated stress conditions. The results presented in this work indicate that the corrosion resilience of the test device is limited by the thermal aging of the passivation layer.

show abstract

Electromigration detection by means of low-frequency noise measurements in thin-film interconnections

Cited by 45 publications

References 6 publications

Low-frequency noise measurements: applications, methodologies and instrumentation

Low-frequency noise measurements: applications, methodologies and instrumentation

Microwave evaluation of electromigration susceptibility in advanced interconnects

Microwave Monitoring of Atmospheric Corrosion of Interconnects

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About