The implications of self-consistent current density design guidelines comprehending electromigration and Joule heating for interconnect technology evolution

We comprehend both electromigration and Joule heating to study for the first time the self-consistent solutions for the maximum allowed interconnect peak current density j/sub peak/ Using worst-case heat losses, we show how these solutions can be used to generate adequately safe current density design guidelines. They indicate that thermal effects will dominate the ability to increase j/sub peak/, rather than EM capability of an interconnect system. Further increases in j/sub peak/ will have to come at some future time from technology options which lower the temperature at which the interconnect operates.