Volcano effect in open through silicon via (TSV) technology

Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology, to serve as electrical connection between metallization layers on the front and backside of the same wafer, has been developed by austriamicrosystems AG. During the development phase, defects were found that could be assigned to an established defect type known as “contact liner volcano”. To our knowledge this is the first time that such a volcano formation is reported from the inside of a TSV.