Mechanisms of Inelastic Deformation and Stress Relaxation in Thin Metallizations Bonded to Hard Substrates

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Abstract
The yield strength of metallic thin films bonded to hard substrates can be significantly higher than is customary for bulk samples of the same metal. This is related to the constrained nature of the deformation. The constrained deformation, as well as the commonly observed crystallographic texture of thin films, places restrictive conditions on the mechanisms of deformation that produce stress relaxation. In narrow aluminum based metallizations used as interconnects in large scale integrated circuits thermal stress induced voiding provides an effective means for stress relaxation. For these interconnects, the stress state is tensile after excursions to higher temperatures; the stresses relax mainly by dislocation glide and grain boundary sliding during the cooldown, while the longer term relaxation is governed by stress-induced voiding and dislocation creep.