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Effect of Aqueous Solution Chemistry on the Accelerated Cracking of Lithographically Patterned Arrays of Copper and Nanoporous Thin-Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

E. P. Guyer
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University 416 Escondido Mall, Stanford, CA 94305
R. H. Dauskardt
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University 416 Escondido Mall, Stanford, CA 94305
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Abstract

The effect of moisture and aqueous solution chemistry on the rate of crack growth in lithographically patterned arrays of copper and low dielectric constant (LKD) materials is reported. Crack growth in the direction orthogonal to the features is demonstrated to fail at significantly increased loads compared to parallel cracking. Decreasing feature width is also shown to increase the structures resistance to fracture, particularly at reduced loads. The chemical interactions and mechanisms of energy dissipation are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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