A Comprehensive Microstructure-Aware Electromigration Modeling Framework; Investigation of the Impact of Trench Dimensions in Damascene Copper Interconnects
As electronic devices continue to shrink in size and increase in complexity, the current densities in interconnects drastically increase, intensifying the effects of electromigration (EM). This renders the understanding of EM crucial, due to its significant implications for device reliability and lo...
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MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Nanomaterials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/14/22/1834 |
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| author | Ahmed Sobhi Saleh Kristof Croes Hajdin Ceric Ingrid De Wolf Houman Zahedmanesh |
| author_facet | Ahmed Sobhi Saleh Kristof Croes Hajdin Ceric Ingrid De Wolf Houman Zahedmanesh |
| author_sort | Ahmed Sobhi Saleh |
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| description | As electronic devices continue to shrink in size and increase in complexity, the current densities in interconnects drastically increase, intensifying the effects of electromigration (EM). This renders the understanding of EM crucial, due to its significant implications for device reliability and longevity. This paper presents a comprehensive simulation framework for the investigation of EM in nano-interconnects, with a primary focus on unravelling the influential role of microstructure, by considering the impact of diffusion heterogeneity through the metal texture and interfaces. As such, the resulting atomic flux and stress distribution within nano-interconnects could be investigated. To this end, a novel approach to generate microstructures of the conductor metal is presented, whereby a predefined statistical distribution of grain sizes obtained from experimental texture analyses can be incorporated into the presented model, making the model predictive under various scales and working conditions with no need for continuous calibration. Additionally, the study advances beyond the state-of-the-art by comprehensively simulating all stages of electromigration including stress evolution, void nucleation, and void dynamics. The model was employed to study the impact of trench dimensions on the dual damascene copper texture and its impact on electromigration aging, where the model findings were corroborated by comparing them to the available experimental findings. A nearly linear increase in normalized time to nucleation was detected as the interconnect became wider with a fixed height for aspect ratios beyond 1. However, a saturation was detected with a further increase in width for lines of aspect ratios below 1, with no effective enhancement in time to nucleation. An aspect ratio of 1 seems to maximize the EM lifetime for a fixed cross-sectional area by fostering a bamboo-like structure, where about a 2-fold of increase was estimated when going from aspect ratio 2 to 1. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f0644cf989a54ae1877aa39e72899f0c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj-art-f0644cf989a54ae1877aa39e72899f0c2024-11-26T18:16:32ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912024-11-011422183410.3390/nano14221834A Comprehensive Microstructure-Aware Electromigration Modeling Framework; Investigation of the Impact of Trench Dimensions in Damascene Copper InterconnectsAhmed Sobhi Saleh0Kristof Croes1Hajdin Ceric2Ingrid De Wolf3Houman Zahedmanesh4IMEC, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, BelgiumIMEC, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, BelgiumInstitute for Microelectronics, TU Wien, Gußhausstraße 27–29/E360, 1040 Wien, AustriaIMEC, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, BelgiumIMEC, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, BelgiumAs electronic devices continue to shrink in size and increase in complexity, the current densities in interconnects drastically increase, intensifying the effects of electromigration (EM). This renders the understanding of EM crucial, due to its significant implications for device reliability and longevity. This paper presents a comprehensive simulation framework for the investigation of EM in nano-interconnects, with a primary focus on unravelling the influential role of microstructure, by considering the impact of diffusion heterogeneity through the metal texture and interfaces. As such, the resulting atomic flux and stress distribution within nano-interconnects could be investigated. To this end, a novel approach to generate microstructures of the conductor metal is presented, whereby a predefined statistical distribution of grain sizes obtained from experimental texture analyses can be incorporated into the presented model, making the model predictive under various scales and working conditions with no need for continuous calibration. Additionally, the study advances beyond the state-of-the-art by comprehensively simulating all stages of electromigration including stress evolution, void nucleation, and void dynamics. The model was employed to study the impact of trench dimensions on the dual damascene copper texture and its impact on electromigration aging, where the model findings were corroborated by comparing them to the available experimental findings. A nearly linear increase in normalized time to nucleation was detected as the interconnect became wider with a fixed height for aspect ratios beyond 1. However, a saturation was detected with a further increase in width for lines of aspect ratios below 1, with no effective enhancement in time to nucleation. An aspect ratio of 1 seems to maximize the EM lifetime for a fixed cross-sectional area by fostering a bamboo-like structure, where about a 2-fold of increase was estimated when going from aspect ratio 2 to 1.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/14/22/1834interconnectstress evolutionvoid nucleationvoid-dynamicscopperelectromigration |
| spellingShingle | Ahmed Sobhi Saleh Kristof Croes Hajdin Ceric Ingrid De Wolf Houman Zahedmanesh A Comprehensive Microstructure-Aware Electromigration Modeling Framework; Investigation of the Impact of Trench Dimensions in Damascene Copper Interconnects Nanomaterials interconnect stress evolution void nucleation void-dynamics copper electromigration |
| title | A Comprehensive Microstructure-Aware Electromigration Modeling Framework; Investigation of the Impact of Trench Dimensions in Damascene Copper Interconnects |
| title_full | A Comprehensive Microstructure-Aware Electromigration Modeling Framework; Investigation of the Impact of Trench Dimensions in Damascene Copper Interconnects |
| title_fullStr | A Comprehensive Microstructure-Aware Electromigration Modeling Framework; Investigation of the Impact of Trench Dimensions in Damascene Copper Interconnects |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Comprehensive Microstructure-Aware Electromigration Modeling Framework; Investigation of the Impact of Trench Dimensions in Damascene Copper Interconnects |
| title_short | A Comprehensive Microstructure-Aware Electromigration Modeling Framework; Investigation of the Impact of Trench Dimensions in Damascene Copper Interconnects |
| title_sort | comprehensive microstructure aware electromigration modeling framework investigation of the impact of trench dimensions in damascene copper interconnects |
| topic | interconnect stress evolution void nucleation void-dynamics copper electromigration |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/14/22/1834 |
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