A Novel Setup for In Situ Monitoring of Thermomechanically Cycled Thin Film Metallizations

A novel experimental setup is presented to thermomechanically cycle metallizations in situ and, at the same time, study the progress of gradual changes in their microstructure using scanning electron microscopy. Very high heating rates are achieved by the use of special semiconductor test devices provided with active heating. The functionality of the setup is shown by one demonstrative experiment, where line-shaped copper metallization on a silicon substrate was subjected to 12,000 thermomechanical stress cycles, characterized by heating durations of 200 µs and temperature differences of 300°C.