Abstract—Addressing electromigration (EM) reliability at system-level poses significant challenges, particularly in the context of advanced nodes. Utilizing physics-based models for such circuits becomes impractical due to excessive computational cost. Conversely, the conventional designer approach to EM-compliance checks tends to be overly simplistic, as it neglects the statistical impact of interconnect population on the chip-failure probability. In this study, a statistical approach, known as Statistical Electromigration Budgeting (SEB), is employed to evaluate the EM reliability of a Power Delivery Network (PDN) in a commercial design. As part of the study, various advanced metallization options are applied to lowest metal layers (Mx) to highlight the need for SEBapproaches for EM-compliance screening. Implementation of ruthenium (Ru) via prefill results in a significant 2.5×improvement in system EM lifetime with respect to dual damascene copper (DD-Cu) metallization, thus highlighting the impact of via EM. In contrast, ruthenium metallization, known for being extremely resilient to EM, exhibits an impressive 10×increase in system EM lifetime. Moreover, considering the short-length effect (SLE) improves lifetime of DD-Cu and via prefill options by 2.5× and 1.5×, respectively.
Esposto, S, Sisto, G, Ciofi, I, Croes, K, Milojevic, D & Zahedmanesh, H 2023, Ruthenium Metallization and Via Prefill for Electromigration Reliability Enhancement in Advanced Sub-3 nm Node Interconnects. in International Integrated Reliability Workshop IIRW 2023. IEEE, pp. 1-4, International Integrated Reliability Workshop, United States, 8/10/23.
Esposto, S., Sisto, G., Ciofi, I., Croes, K., Milojevic, D., & Zahedmanesh, H. (2023). Ruthenium Metallization and Via Prefill for Electromigration Reliability Enhancement in Advanced Sub-3 nm Node Interconnects. In International Integrated Reliability Workshop IIRW 2023 (pp. 1-4). IEEE.
@inproceedings{4d3013d37d774f909001ec6dce51ed69,
title = "Ruthenium Metallization and Via Prefill for Electromigration Reliability Enhancement in Advanced Sub-3 nm Node Interconnects",
abstract = "Abstract—Addressing electromigration (EM) reliability at system-level poses significant challenges, particularly in the context of advanced nodes. Utilizing physics-based models for such circuits becomes impractical due to excessive computational cost. Conversely, the conventional designer approach to EM-compliance checks tends to be overly simplistic, as it neglects the statistical impact of interconnect population on the chip-failure probability. In this study, a statistical approach, known as Statistical Electromigration Budgeting (SEB), is employed to evaluate the EM reliability of a Power Delivery Network (PDN) in a commercial design. As part of the study, various advanced metallization options are applied to lowest metal layers (Mx) to highlight the need for SEBapproaches for EM-compliance screening. Implementation of ruthenium (Ru) via prefill results in a significant 2.5×improvement in system EM lifetime with respect to dual damascene copper (DD-Cu) metallization, thus highlighting the impact of via EM. In contrast, ruthenium metallization, known for being extremely resilient to EM, exhibits an impressive 10×increase in system EM lifetime. Moreover, considering the short-length effect (SLE) improves lifetime of DD-Cu and via prefill options by 2.5× and 1.5×, respectively.",
author = "Simone Esposto and Giuliano Sisto and Ivan Ciofi and Kristof Croes and Dragomir Milojevic and Houman Zahedmanesh",
year = "2023",
language = "English",
isbn = "9798350327281",
pages = "1--4",
booktitle = "International Integrated Reliability Workshop IIRW 2023",
publisher = "IEEE",
note = "International Integrated Reliability Workshop ; Conference date: 08-10-2023 Through 12-10-2023",
}