Principles for simulation of barrier cracking due to high stress

In ULSI metallization with tantalum barriers the highest stress is generally induced in the barrier, because in the structure tantalum has the highest young modulus compared to the other materials. Regarding this barrier cracking can occur due to the high stress values. In this work possible approaches to simulate cracking appearances are selected from the literature and their feasibility will be investigated. The principles of the cracking come from different science discipline, because only a few concerns about fracture mechanics regarding thin-film application exist so far. In this investigation the first principal stress criterion is implemented and used for simulation of barrier cracking in a simplified line model for the first time.