Submicron high density devices require multilevel interconnections. In multilevel interconnections, issues relating to planarity, stress voiding of metals and stress cracking of the dielectric(s) play an dominant role.As the levels of interconnect go up so does the stress level. A high stress level in the intermediate dielectric can cause cracks which ultimately lead to device failure. In this paper we present a novel method to detect stress cracking using focussed ion beam. This method is correlated with wet chemical etch process and RIE.The phenomenum of cracking of dielectric(s) is studied and different technology aspects are considered. Using the focussed ion beam a robust dielectric is developed.