Electromigration enhanced kinetics of Cu-Sn intermetallic compounds in Pb free solder joints and Cu low-k dual damascene processing using step and flash imprint lithography

This dissertation constitutes two major sections. In the first major section, a kinetic analysis was established to investigate the electromigration (EM), enhanced intermetallic compound (IMC) growth and void formation for Sn-based Pb-free solder joints to Cu under bump metallization (UBM). The model takes into account the interfacial intermetallic reaction, Cu-Sn interdiffusion, and current stressing. A new approach was developed to derive atomic diffusivities and effective charge numbers based on Simulated Annealing (SA) in conjunction with the kinetic model. The finite difference (FD) kinetic model based on this approach accurately predicted the intermetallic compound growth when compared to empirical observation. The ultimate electromigration failure of the solder joints was caused by extensive void formation at the intermetallic interface. The void formation mechanism was analyzed by modeling the vacancy transport under electromigration. The effects of current density and Cu diffusivity in Sn solder were also investigated with the kinetic model. The second major section describes the integration of Step and Flash Imprint Lithography (S-FIL®) into an industry standard Cu/low-k dual damascene process. The yield on a Back End Of the Line (BEOL) test vehicle that contains standard test structures such as via chains with 120 nm vias was established by electrical tests. S-FIL shows promise as a cost effective solution to patterning sub 45 nm features and is capable of simultaneously patterning two levels of interconnect structures, which provides a low cost BEOL process. The critical processing step in the integration is the reactive ion etching (RIE) process that transfers the multilevel patterns to the inter-level dielectrics (ILD). An in-situ, multistep etch process was developed that gives excellent pattern structures in two industry standard Chemical Vapor Deposited (CVD) low-k dielectrics. The etch process showed excellent pattern fidelity and a wide process window. Electrical testing was conducted on the test vehicle to show that this process renders high yield and consistent via resistance. Discussions of the failure behaviors that are characteristic to the use of S-FIL are provided.