Influence of Joule heating during electromigration evaluation of silver lines

In the present study, the kinetics and failure mechanism of silver (Ag) thin film metallization have been determined under various temperature conditions. Failure was due to evaporation of metal assisted by agglomeration. The effect of Joule heating on the activation energy (Ea) for failure is determined. The Ag metallization appears to experience bimodal failure (0.46 and 0.89 eV) when Joule heating effect is not considered. However, upon incorporation of the temperature rise due to Joule heating, the Ea is determined to be 0.51 eV indicating a single failure mechanism.