Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T04:34:55.774Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mechanical Stress in VLSI Interconnections: Origins, Effects, Measurement, and Modeling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2013

Paul A. Flinn
Get access

Extract

Problems with mechanical stress in very large-scale integration (VLSI) interconnections appeared quite early in the history of the industry. Failures were observed in the dielectric itself, in the die, and in metal lines. Various process and design changes were made to fix the problems, but the continuing shrinking of dimensions and increased complexity of interconnection structures have resulted in recurrence of old problems, the appearance of new ones, and increasing difficulty in developing fixes. The choices for interconnection materials and processes have become increasingly constrained. The shift from hermetic to plastic packaging reduces the choices for passivation materials. The reduced dimensions for the active devices and the corresponding shortening of diffusion distances limit the “thermal budget”; interconnection processing must be carried out quickly and at relatively low temperatures. The reduced space available for interconnections has resulted in the use of high aspect ratios, multiple layers of metal, and the need for planarization. These all lead to further constraints on materials and processes. An additional complicating factor is the continuing effort to reduce the time from initial design to marketing the product. Since many mechanical-stress-induced problems are wear-out reliability problems, they may require extensive testing for detection. If a problem is not found until late in the product cycle, the economic consequences may be severe. To avoid costly late detection of problems and frantic scrambles for fixes, it is essential to have a clear understanding of the various origins of mechanical stress, the behavior of various materials and interfaces under stress, and the potential failure mechanisms.

Type
Metallization for Integrated Circuit Manufacturing
Information
MRS Bulletin , Volume 20 , Issue 11 , November 1995 , pp. 70 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Flinn, P.A., in Stress-Induced Phenomena in Metallization (AIP Conf. Proc. 263, Am. Inst. of Phys., New York, 1992) p. 73.Google Scholar
2.Shirley, G.G. and Blish, R.C. II, in Proc. of the 25th Ann. Int. Reliability Symp. (IEEE, New York, 1987) p. 238.Google Scholar
3.Evans, H.C., Mater. Sci. Eng. A120 (1989) p. 139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Chouaf, A., Loppin, G., Ignat, M., and Terriez, J.M., in Materials Reliability in Microelectronics III, edited by Rodbell, K., Filter, B., Frost, H., and Ho, P. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 309, Pittsburgh, 1993) p. 211.Google Scholar
5.Blech, I.A. and Meieran, E.S., in Appl. Phys. Lett. 11 (1967) p. 263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Curry, J., Fitzgibbon, G., Guan, Y., Muollo, R., Nelson, G., and Thomas, A., in Proc. 22nd Ann. Int. Reliability Symp. (IEEE, 1984) p. 6.Google Scholar
7.Klema, J., Pyle, R., and Domangue, E., in Proc. of the 22nd Ann. Int. Reliability Symp. (IEEE, 1984) p. 1.Google Scholar
8.Sinha, A.K. and Sheng, T.T., Thin Solid Films 48 (1978) p. 117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.McInerney, E.J. and Flinn, P.A., in Proc. 20th Ann. Int. Reliability Symp. (IEEE, 1982) p. 264.Google Scholar
10.Flinn, P.A., Gardner, D.S., and Nix, W.D., in IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices ED-34 (1987) p. 689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Flinn, P.A., in Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties, edited by Bravman, J.C., Nix, W.D., Barnett, D.M., and Smith, D.A. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 130, Pittsburgh, 1989) p. 41.Google Scholar
12.Flinn, P.A., J. Mater. Res. 6 (1991) p. 1498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Ho, P.S., Yeo, I., Anderson, S.G.H., and Hu, C.K., in AIP Conference Proceedings 305 (Am. Inst. of Phys., 1994) p. 62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Burges, U., Helneder, H., Shneegans, M., Beckers, D., Hallerback, M., Schroeder, H., and Schilling, W., in Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties V, edited by Baker, S.P., Børgesen, P., Townsend, P.H., Ross, C.A., and Volkert, C.A. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 356, Pittsburgh, 1995) p. 423.Google Scholar
15.Witvrouw, A., Proost, J., Deweerdt, B., Roussel, P., and Maex, K., in Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties V, edited by Baker, S.P., Børgesen, P., Townsend, P.H., Ross, C.A., and Volkert, C.A. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 356, Pittsburgh, 1995) p. 441.Google Scholar
16.Flinn, P.A. and Waychunas, G.A., in J. of Vac. Sci. and Techn. B6 (1988) p. 1749.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Greenebaum, B., Sauter, A.I., Flinn, P.A., and Nix, W.D., in Appl. Phys. Lett. 58 (1991) p. 1845.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Lee, J., Ma, Q., Marieb, T., Mack, A., Fujimoto, H., Flinn, P., Woolery, B., and Keyes, L., in Mater. Reliability in Microelectronics V (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 391, 1995).Google Scholar
19.Ma, Q., Chiras, S., Clarke, D.R., and Suo, Z., J. Appl. Phys., in press.Google Scholar
20.Jones, R.E., in Proc. 25th Ann. Int. Reliability Symp. (IEEE, 1987) p. 9.Google Scholar
21.Sauter, A.I. and Nix, W.D., in Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties II (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 188, Pittsburgh, 1990) p. 15.Google Scholar
22.Sauter, A.I. and Nix, W.D., in IEEE Trans. on Components, Hybrids, and Manufacturing Tech. 15 (1992) p. 594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Mack, A.S. and Flinn, P., Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties V, edited by Baker, S.P., Borgesen, P., Townsend, P.H., Ross, C.A., and Volkert, C.A. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 356, Pittsburgh, 1995) p. 465.Google Scholar
24.Nix, W.D. and Arzt, E., in Metall. Trans. A 23A (1992) p. 2007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25.Nix, W. and Sauter, A.I., in Stress-Induced Phenomena in Metallization, edited by Li, C., Totta, P., and Ho, P. (Am. Inst. of Phys., New York, 1992) p. 89.Google Scholar
26.Marieb, T., PhD thesis, Stanford University, 1994.Google Scholar
27.Abe, H., Tanabe, S., Kondo, Y., and Ikubo, M., in Jpn. Soc. of Appl. Phys. (39th Spring Meeting, Extended Abstracts, April 1992) p. 658.Google Scholar
28.Nix, W. (private communication) 1994.Google Scholar