Evaluation of the Dominant Factor for Electromigration in Sputtered High Purity Al Films

Abstract

This paper is focused on evaluating the dominant factor for electromigration (EM) in sputtered high purity Al films. A closed-form equation of atomic flux divergence by treating grain boundary diffusion and hillock formation in a polycrystalline structure without passivation layer was derived to construct the theoretical model. According to the developed equation, it is available to see the effect of various parameters on the EM resistance. Moreover, based on the proposed model, we compared the EM resistance of different sputtered high purity Al films. These films differ in purity and features, which are realized as affecting factors for the EM resistance. Finally, according to the analysis by the synthesis of the obtained EM resistance, the evaluation of the dominant factor for EM in sputtered high purity Al films was approached. Although the effects of the average grain size and the effective valence cannot be ignored, the difference in diffusion coefficient was believed to have a dominant influence in determining the EM resistance. Thus, increasing the activation energy for grain boundary diffusion can significantly reduce the damage during EM in such sputtered polycrystalline Al films.