ELECTROCHEMICAL PROCESSES RESULTING IN MIGRATED SHORT FAILURES IN MICROCIRCUITS

Metals can exhibit dendritic short-circuits caused by electrochemical migration in conductor-insulator structures, which may result in failures and reliability problems in microcircuits. The classical model of electrochemical migration has been well known for several decades. This process is a transport of metal ions between two metallization stripes under bias through a continuous aqueous electrolyte, Due to the electrodeposition at the cathode, dendrites and dendrite-like deposits are formed, Ultimately, such a deposit can lead to a short circuit in the device and can cause catastrophic failure, A few anomalous and newly discovered phenomena have initiated us to perform some revisions and to add supplementary models to the conventional one, A theoretical review based on practical results is given about the most important possible processes, Material design aspects are also discussed.