ELECTROMIGRATION STUDIES USING INSITU TEM ELECTRICAL-RESISTANCE MEASUREMENTS

An in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) method has been devised for the measurement of electrical resistance as a function of temperature and/or time for thin film stripes. A custom TEM sample holder was fabricated through which up to eight leads may be passed. These leads provide currents to the heater and allow for the measurement of hot stage temperature and the electrical resistance of the sample. This configuration enables one to correlate changes in resistance of the stripe during electromigration experiments to the microstructural changes occurring at the same time. The time-dependent microstructural phenomena are recorded with a camcorder on video tape, a capability which greatly enhances the subsequent data analysis. Preliminary experiments have been performed using the Temperature-ramp Resistance Analysis to Characterize Electromigration (TRACE) method in order to determine the kinetic parameters for electromigration for pure aluminum films. © 1990.