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VLSI Design
Volume 13 (2001), Issue 1-4, Pages 363-367
doi:10.1155/2001/38657
A Percolative Approach to Reliability of Thin Film Interconnects and Ultra-thin Dielectrics
1Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell' Innovazione and INFM, Università di Lecce, Via Arnesano s/n, Lecce 73100, Italy
2Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Università di Lecce, Via Arnesano s/n, Lecce 73100, Italy
Copyright © 2001 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Degradation of thin film interconnects and ultra-thin dielectrics is studied within a stochastic approach based on a percolation technique. The thin film is modelled as a two-dimensional random resistor network at a given temperature and its degradation is characterized by a breaking probability of the single resistor. A recovery of the damage is also allowed so that a steady-state condition can be achieved. The main features of experiments are reproduced. This approach provides a unified description of degradation and failure processes in terms of physical parameters.