Assessment of fracture and elastoplastic properties of thin and very thin films

Microelectronic industry is driven by the continuous miniaturization process conducing to the introduction of new materials. These materials are subjected to stresses mainly due to thermal mismatch, microstructural changes or process integration which can be in the origin of mechanical reliability issues. To study these phenomena and even electromigration a good mechanical characterization of the materials is needed. This work aims at developing tests to assess fracture or elastoplastic behavior of thin and very thin metallic and polymeric films. The tests developed are based on indentation combined with sample preparation using mostly FIB. Among other techniques, different test geometries for microbeams have been evaluated and quantitative data have been obtained combining experimental results with analytical or numerical models, depending on the material under study. For the particular case of Cu cantilevers, a strong dependence of their plastic behavior on the orientation of the grains close to the fix...