AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition
    Electronic Materials and Processing Tuesday Sessions
       Session EM-TuM

Invited Paper EM-TuM10
Reliability of Advanced Interconnects

Tuesday, November 11, 2014, 11:00 am, Room 314

Session: Advanced Interconnects and Materials
Presenter: Carl V. Thompson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Correspondent: Click to Email
As interconnect dimensions have continued to shrink with each new CMOS generation, increased electrical resistivity has had a growing impact on overall circuit performance. This has driven the search for radical changes in interconnect technologies based, for example, on nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene. However, with kilometers of interconnect per integrated circuit subject to stringent yield and reliability requirements, viable alternatives to metal-based interconnects have not yet been found. Therefore, for the foreseeable future, further improvements in IC performance and functionality will require evolutionary advances in interconnect materials systems. Recent work on performance enhancement has focused on reduced surface and grain boundary scattering in Cu, and the use of dielectric environments with low dielectric constants. These developments are constrained by the need to maintain high reliability, and sometimes come at the expense of reliability. Also, performance improvements can sometimes be enabled by reliability improvements and changes in design constraints imposed by reliability concerns. Design and layout strategies that lead to improved interconnect reliability and allow relaxation of constraints imposed by reliability concerns will be reviewed. The impact on evolving technologies on electromigration-limited reliability will also be discussed, as will needed changes in reliability assessment methodologies.