Laser beam induced dielectric cracks in VLSI devices

In this paper we first discuss details of the scanning optical microscope (SOM) used for TIVA analysis. Sample preparation and the effect of SRO deposition conditions on overall wafer stress are presented next. The use of surface acoustic wave (SAW) technique as discussed in M. Gostein et al. (2003), to calculate Young's modulus of the SRO films is discussed. Dielectric cracking results for the different sample types are shown and finally, FE modeling of samples with low and high propensity to cracking is presented.