Electromigration in isolated aluminum vias probed by resistance changes and 1/<i>f</i> noise

Alers, G. B.; Beverly, N. L.; Oates, A. S.

doi:10.1063/1.362417

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…From figures 9 and 10, it is envisaged that all the curves are nearly linear at the early stage of the electromigration where the crack begins to develop. This agrees with many experimental reports [14,[19][20][21][22]. For longer time, the resistance increases non-linearly and rapidly.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Simulation of electromigration failure by variable resistance model

Lo¹,

Dam²

1997

Modelling Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng.

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The electromigration failure in a thin metallic conductor has been simulated by the temporal resistance change. This change is related to the crack propagation on both sides of the conductor. The geometrical change affects the two-dimensional electric field distribution, which in turn influences the two-dimensional current density distribution in the conductor. The two-dimensional electric field and current density maps can be realized by solving the Laplace equation. By integrating the power density over the entire conductor, the resistance change due to the crack development can be obtained. On the other hand, the development of the crack is attributed to the accumulation of vacancies over the cross section of the conductor. We assume that the crack length is proportional to the excess vacancies over the cross section. From the one-dimensional diffusion-drift equation, we obtained the temporal growth of crack length. The temporal resistance change can thus be simulated. The effects of vacancy diffusion, and field-induced drift on the crack-growth kinetics have been demonstrated.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Simulation of electromigration failure by variable resistance model

Lo¹,

Dam²

1997

Modelling Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng.

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“…It has also been observed that, to obtain a stationary 1/f 2 reading, one has to allow the system to reach equilibrium during a few hours typically. However, for high T and j , where noticeable EM occurs, it has for example been shown that a long-term mass-transport-based drift (up to several hours) of the resistance is observed, which generates a 1/f 2 spectrum as well [74][75][76][77]. An example is shown in figure 10.…”

Section: Em Lf Noise: Phenomenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“….) in the metal film [74,78], since it is a sensitive function of the current distribution [10]. It is also the dominant LF noise in metal films with small physical size Figure 10.…”

Section: Em Lf Noise: Phenomenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While originally the interest was focused on Al and Al(Si) thin films [10,63,64,[67][68][69][70], more recently noise tests have been performed on, among others, Al-Cu layers [63,71,73,76,78] and on pure Cu films, which are candidates for future deep submicron interconnects, because of a higher resistance against EM [81]. Also, bilayers of Al/TiW [69], multilayers [82][83][84] and via structures [74,82] have been probed by the 1/f α or 1/f ν noise technique. It is in fact one of the few methods which yield electrical information on vias and plugs.…”

Section: Em Lf Noise: Phenomenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reliability aspects of the low-frequency noise behaviour of submicron CMOS technologies

Simoen

Claeys

1999

Semicond. Sci. Technol.

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This overview concentrates on reliability aspects of low-frequency (LF) noise in present-day CMOS technologies and transistors. It focuses on how different degradation mechanisms affect the LF noise behaviour and discusses the impact of technological modifications intended to enhance the lifetime of components and circuits. Whenever possible, the physical background will be highlighted, although for a detailed treatment dedicated reviews have to be consulted. The paper consists of two main parts. One covers the degradation mechanisms on a transistor level, including the impact of homogeneous and hot-carrier degradation and the effect of back-end processing steps and, more specifically, plasma damage on the LF noise. In the second part, the noise aspects of the metal interconnect lines related to the occurrence of electromigration are summarized. Because of the downscaling of technologies this aspect gains more and more weight and is, at the same time, a vital part of modern CMOS technology. Throughout the presentation, the possibilities of using noise as a lifetime-predictive tool are discussed and illustrated.

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“…The flicker noise magnitude will increase as the extent of voiding in metal lines increases. 4 However, the gradient of the noise spectra will most likely remain at one unless there is significant void movement or change in void shape, or the void damage is too excessive. The measurement of the noise spectra combined with resistance-thermal modeling of the metal line during current flow was found to be able to predict the amount of voiding in the line.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%