A MODEL FOR THE EFFECT OF LINE-WIDTH AND MECHANICAL STRENGTH ON ELECTROMIGRATION FAILURE OF INTERCONNECTS WITH NEAR-BAMBOO GRAIN STRUCTURES

A simple analytical model for the effect of mechanical strength and line width (for the case of narrow lines) on the electromigration failure of metallic interconnects is presented. Because the line width/grain size ratio and the diffusivity enter differently in the model, application of the resulting failure time equation to published data can provide insight into the mechanisms of enhancement of electromigration resistance by grain structure optimization and alloying.