A new method for the lifetime determination of submicron metal interconnects by means of a parallel test structure

Simulation experiments on both series and parallel electromigration (EM) test structures were carried out under current (or voltage) stress and further analysed by means of the total resistance (TR) analysis and a software package “failure” in order to calculate and to compare the behaviour of both EM test structures. These simulation experiments show that the parallel EM test structure is a correct approach for the determination of the failure time of submicron interconnects, the activation energy and the current density exponent n of the thermally driven process, therefore leading to a very substantial reduction of the number of samples that are needed to perform the EM tests.