Electromigration Failure at Aluminum-Silicon Contacts

Abstract

Previous experiments to measure electromigration properties of Al–Si contacts were conducted at high current densities. Failures resulted from a combination of electromigration damage and diffusion of silicon into the aluminum lands. At low current densities, the silicon diffusion is significantly reduced and the median time to failure is inversely related to the current density. In addition, contacts ranging from 10×5 μ to 25×15 μ were tested to determine the dependence of median time to failure on contact size.