New Failure Mechanisms in Sputtered Aluminum-Silicon Films

A new failure mechanism resulting in open metal bit- lines was observed during reliability testing of vendor 64k dynamic random access memory (RAIM) products using sputtered Al-Si metallurgy. Life test data, physical failure analysis, and metal film characterization are presented, The observed phenomenan is not strictly electromigratiotn, but rather a temperature-dependent metal-deformation process, such as creep, resulting in intergranular fracture.