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Measurement of the Fracture Energy of SiO2/TiN Interfaces Using the Residually-Stressed Thin-Film Micro-Strip Test

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Guanghai Xu ,
D. D. Ragan ,
D. R. Clarke ,
Ming Y. He ,
Qing Ma  and
H. Fujimoto
Guanghai Xu
Affiliation:
Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
D. D. Ragan
Affiliation:
Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
D. R. Clarke
Affiliation:
Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Ming Y. He
Affiliation:
Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Qing Ma
Affiliation:
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA 95054
H. Fujimoto
Affiliation:
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA 95054
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Abstract

One of the key factors affecting the long-term reliability of thin film structures in microelectronics devices is the fracture resistance of their interfaces. Of the many different interfaces formed during device fabrication, the SiO2/TiN interface is amongst the most common. In order to measure the fracture energy of this interface, we have been utilizing a test in which a narrow strip of a material, having a large intrinsic tensile stress, is deposited and lithographically defined onto the SiO2/TiN/Al thin film structure. The elastic strain energy in the micro-strip provides an additional driving force to debond the weakest interface in the structure. Decohesion occurs when the thickness of the micro-strip, and hence the total elastic strain energy, exceeds a critical value. Another measure of the fracture resistance in the same test is the length of the strip that remains intact after debonding at both ends. This is a function of the intrinsic stress, the thickness of the superlayer, and the modulus ratios. In addition to presenting results on the measured fracture energy of the SiO2/TiN interface, evidence for stress-corrosion will be described.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 458: Symposium W – Interfacial Engineering for Optimized Properties , 1996 , 465
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

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