Study of Cu Migration-Induced Failure of Inter-Layer Dielectric

In order to reduce the RC delay problem, Cu interconnects are now widely used with low-k dielectrics. However, the migration of Cu into ILD (inter layer dielectrics) has been known as a major reliability concern under BTS (bias-temperature-stress) conditions. For the optimization of reliability of devices based on Cu interconnects with low-k dielectrics, theoretical and quantitative understanding of Cu migration induced dielectric breakdown mechanism is needed