New types of reliability problems in porous ceramic based microdevices

Metals can exhibit dendritic short-circuit growth caused by electrochemical migration in conductor-insulator structures, which may result in failures and reliability problems in microcircuits. The classical model of electrochemcial migration has been well known for several decades. However, a few anomalous and newly discovered phenomenona, characteristic especially of porous ceramic or glass-ceramic based microdevices, have been initiated to perform some revisions and to add supplementary models. The experimental results demonstrate the importance of material design aspects.