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Electromigration Reliability of Electroplated Gold Interconnects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2014

Steve H. Kilgore  and
Dieter K. Schroder
Steve H. Kilgore
Affiliation:
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Tempe, AZ 85284, USA Material Science and Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Dieter K. Schroder
Affiliation:
Electrical Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
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Abstract

The electromigration lifetimes of a very large quantity of passivated electroplated Au interconnects were measured utilizing high-resolution in-situ resistance monitoring equipment. Application of moderate accelerated stress conditions with current density limited to 2 MA/cm2 and oven temperatures in the range of 300°C to 375°C prevented large Joule-heated temperature gradients and electrical overstress failures. A Joule-heated Au film temperature increase of 10°C on average was determined from measured temperature coefficients of resistance (TCRs). A failure criterion of 50% resistance degradation was selected to avoid thermal runaway and catastrophic open circuit failures. All Au lifetime distributions followed log-normal statistics. An activation energy of 0.80 ± 0.05 eV was measured from constant-current electromigration tests at multiple temperatures. A current density exponent of 1.91 ± 0.03 was extracted from multiple current densities at a single constant temperature.

Keywords

electromigrationAumetallic conductor
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1692: Symposium CC – New Materials and Processes for Interconnects, Novel Memory and Advanced Display Technologies , 2014 , mrss14-1692-cc09-32
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2014 

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