The influence of texture and grain boundary character distribution on the reliability of aluminum thin films

To understand the influence of texture on the reliability of aluminum thin films, the texture was measured on pure aluminum (Al) films prepared with different manufacturing conditions. Stress measurement and electromigration tests were performed on all these specimens. To observe the effect that special grain boundaries have on the reliability of thin films, the distribution of coincidence site lattice (CSL) grain boundaries was obtained from the orientation distribution function (ODF). Experimental results from the thin films prepared with different manufacturing conditions show that the lifetime of patterned films increases with both the intensity of {111} texture and the frequency of CSL boundaries. The lifetime of the films also increases as the residual stress decreases.