The Role of Thermal Grooving, Thermotransport and Electrotransport on the Failure of Thin Film Metallizations

Grain boundary grooving, thermotransport and electrotransport operate simultaneously during current stressing of thin film metallizations. For different operating conditions or positions along a stripe, they may compete or reinforce each other in promoting hole formation. This work demonstrates that second components may influence this competition in a variety of ways. As the interactions become better understood, they may ultimately provide the basis for controlling hole formation and predicting reliability of thin film stripes.