The Effects of Temperature Cycling on Aluminum-Film Interconnections

Aluminum-thin-film interconnections crossing Si-SiO
2
steps were temperature cycled 1500 times from-55° to 150°C and the films in the vicinity of Si-SiO
2
steps have been examined using a scanning electron microscope. Grain boundary sliding, grooving, and the striations are observed. The observations indicate that the failure mechanisms due to fatigue in Al films are similar to the ones observed for bulk samples.