Delamination in patterned films

When the dielectric constant of an insulator in an interconnect is reduced, mechanical properties are often compromised, giving rise to significant challenges in interconnect integration and reliability. Due to low adhesion of the dielectric an interfacial crack may occur during fabrication and testing. To understand the effect of interconnect structure, an interfacial fracture mechanics model has been analyzed for patterned films undergoing a typical thermal excursion during the integration process. It is found that the underlayer pattern generates a driving force for delamination and changes the mode mixity of the delamination. The implications of our findings to interconnect processes and reliability testing have been discussed.