Modeling electromigration and the void nucleation in thin-film conductors

At present time it is generally accepted, that the vacancy transfer under the electric current impact (electromigration), the evolution of mechanical stresses, and the void nucleation cause the failure of thin-film polycrystalline interconnects. In this work the summary of general physical models of electromigration, the stress generation, and the void formation is given. On the basis of the models mentioned the simulation of the void nucleation in a triple point of the interconnect polycrystalline structure is performed, as well as modeling the fracture of a two-level metallization in the plug region. For both cases characteristic sizes of voids and times to their nucleation are calculated numerically.