Scaling properties and electromigration resistance of sputtered Ag metallization lines

Resistivity and electromigration were investigated for thin sputtered Ag fi lms and microstructured Ag lines. Resistivities of thin films were found to be lower compared to copper and follow the prediction of the size effect. Microstructured Ag lines show a high electromigration resistance at acceler ated stress measurements. Considering joule heating of the lines, the activ ation energy for electromigration was found to be 0.58 eV. The extrapolated median lifetime of Ag lines was found to be similar or higher than for Cu lines. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.