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Electromigration Damage in Aluminum Alloys Studied by 1/f Noise

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

C.A. Kruelle ,
E. Ochs ,
H. Stoll ,
A. Seeger  and
I. Bloom
C.A. Kruelle
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstr. 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany, kruelle@physx4.mpi-stuttgart.mpg.de
E. Ochs
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstr. 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany, kruelle@physx4.mpi-stuttgart.mpg.de
H. Stoll
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstr. 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany, kruelle@physx4.mpi-stuttgart.mpg.de
A. Seeger
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstr. 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany, kruelle@physx4.mpi-stuttgart.mpg.de
I. Bloom
Affiliation:
Electrical Engineering Department, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
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Abstract

The electromigration damage in polycrystalline AlSiCu lines caused by dc current densities of the order of magnitude 1010 Am −2 at 500 K has been investigated by long-time high-resolution ac noise measurements over a wide range of temperatures. A multiple-probe setup allowed us to monitor the electrical resistance increase along the line and to show that sudden enhancements of the noise power and the resistance occurred in the same line segment. The peak in the distribution function N(E) of the activation energies E for the defect motion responsible for 1/f noise was found to shift from E0 = 0.7 eV with Gaussian width ΔE = 0.1 eV in the undamaged samples to E0 = 1.0 eV and ΔE = 0.2 eV in the damaged samples. The latter values are compatible with the Cu diffusivity along intermediate-misfit grain boundaries in Al, indicating that the damage process depends not only on the composition but also on the microstructure of the lines. It is proposed that electromigration causes Cu atoms to drift towards and get trapped in grain boundaries, that their thermally activated motion in the boundaries contributes substantially to the 1/f noise, and that eventually the Cu atoms assemble on the anode side of the sample. The dependence of the diffusivity on the grain-boundary mismatch may cause flux divergencies at boundary junctions and thus lead to void formation.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 516: Symposium E – Low Dielectric Constant Materials IV , January 1998 , 3
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1998

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