Analysis, Estimation and Impact of Joule Heating in the Electromigration Test of Copper ULSI Interconnects

Joule heating significantly affect the electromigration performance of ULSI interconnect. The experimental determination of electromigration parameters such as activation energy, current density exponent without considering Joule heating leads significantly wrong estimation of these parameters which in turn resulted wrong estimation of extrapolated life-time. Theoretically, the Joule heating is shown to be non-linear with the test temperature and is verified by experiments. Experimental procedure for estimating Joule heat in the electromigration test of ULSI interconnects is described. The impact of Joule heating on the estimation of electromigration related parameters is presented.