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Effect of Point Defects on the Electromigration Rate at the Interface of Joined Materials

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Abstract

In this paper, we develop the theoretical concepts that allow establishing a relationship between the HEM activation energy of the electromigration of the intrinsic ions of a conductive material along the boundary of its compound (interface) with another (dielectric) material and the work Wa of the reversible separation of materials along this interface. The relationship between the energy and the work is established to be linear, that is consistent with the available experimental data. In the paper, we show and analyze the possibility of changing the HEM activation energy with the help of nonequilibrium point defects (vacancies and atomic impurities) embedded in the volumes of the connected materials. This effect can significantly affect the electromigration rate along the interface. In the case when point defects are interstitial impurities, the conditions under which there is an increase or decrease in HEM with an increase in the concentration of defects are analytically obtained and studied, and their dependence on temperature is found. Estimates of impurity concentrations that lead to a noticeable change in the HEM magnitude are provided. The possibilities of using the effect of embedded impurities on the time until metallization systems fail are considered.

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Funding

The work is carried out as part of a state task for Valiev Institute of Physics and Technology, the Russian Academy of Sciences and was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, project no. 0066-2019-0004.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Valiev Institute of Physics and Technology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117218, Moscow, Russia

    T. M. Makhviladze & M. E. Sarychev

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  1. T. M. Makhviladze
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  2. M. E. Sarychev
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Correspondence to M. E. Sarychev.

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Translated by A. Ivanov

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Makhviladze, T.M., Sarychev, M.E. Effect of Point Defects on the Electromigration Rate at the Interface of Joined Materials. Russ Microelectron 49, 423–430 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063739720050054

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063739720050054

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