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Reliability of Interconnects Exhibiting Bimodal Electromigrationinduced Failure Distributions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

H. Kahn ,
C. V. Thompson  and
S. S. Cooperman
H. Kahn
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
C. V. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
S. S. Cooperman
Affiliation:
presently at Digital Equipment Corporation, Hudson, MA 01749
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Abstract

Bimodal electromigration-induced open failure time distributions are reported for both single-level and double-level interconnect structures due to inherent microstructural variations. For flat interconnect lines, the bimodality arises when some lines in a test population have only bamboo boundaries, and other lines contain some triple junctions as well as bamboo boundaries. For via structures, two failure mechanisms result if some of the vias are not in contact with grain boundaries in the underlying metal, and others are. For both lines and vias, a large apparent deviation in failure times, σ, is a signal of a possible bimodal distribution, which can also be confirmed by microscopic examinations, resistance measurements, or an investigation of the metal microstructure. Insufficient testing can result in an incorrect asumption of a monomodal failure distribution, leading to either optimistic or pessimistic reliability predictions, depending on the size of the test sample population and the degree to which the test population is representative of the actual overall population.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 265: Symposium H – Materials Reliability in Microelectronics II , 1992 , 65
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1992

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References

REFERENCES

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