Electromigration in the VLSI interconnect metallizations

Electromigration is one of the major failure mechanisms in VLSI interconnect metallizations. It degrades the circuit performance of an integrated circuit by causing open-circuit and short-circuit failures in the interconnections. Several factors that affect electromigration under pulsed DC and AC conditions, such as current density, activation energy, temperature, interconnection material properties, etc. are reviewed. Methods for testing and detecting electromigration are presented, and methods to reduce the effects of electromigration are discussed