Formation and movement of voids in copper interconnect structures

Electromigration (EM) is one of the main reliability concerns in copper interconnects. In particular, it is a critical issue for new emerging technologies, such as through silicon via (TSV) technology. In this work the impact of formation and growth of voids under a TSV located at the cathode end of a typical dual-damascene line is analyzed. The resistance change of the structure is numerically simulated and modeled. It is shown that there exist two modes of resistance development caused by large and small voids.