With the lowest resistivity of all metals, silver is an attractive interconnect material for higher current densities and faster switching speeds in integrated circuits. Over the past ten years, extensive research has been conducted to address the thermal and electrical stability issues and the processing issues that have prevented silver from being used as an interconnect metal. Here is the first book to discuss the current understanding of silver metallization and its potential as a future interconnect material for integrated circuit technology. The authors provide details on a wide range of experimental, characterization, and analysis techniques. In addition, they discuss novel approaches used to overcome the thermal and electrical stability issues associated with silver metallization. The book is written for students, scientists, engineers, and technologists in the fields of integrated circuits and microelectronics research and development.

First book to discuss current knowledge of silver metallization and its potential as a favourable candidate for implementation as a future interconnect material for integrated circuit technology Valuable resource in this emerging field Provides detailed information on a wide range of experimental characterization and analysis techniques Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
James W. Mayer is the Galvin Professor of Science and Engineering and Regents Professor at Arizona State University. He has investigated thin film phenomena and metallization for integrated circuits over the past two decades. Previously he was the F.N. Bard Professor of Materials Science at Cornell University and before this, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Physics at Purdue University and was a member of the technical staff at Hughes Research Laboratories. He is known for his work on nuclear particle detectors and Rutherford backscattering analysis. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the American Physical Society and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.Terry L. Alford is a professor of materials engineering in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at Arizona State University. Dr Alford received his Ph.D. from Cornell University and was previously employed by Texas Instruments. He has had extensive consulting experience with Philips Semiconductors, Freescale Semiconductors, and Motorola. He has published extensively on the properties of thin films and the use of analysis techniques to characterize the films.Daniel Adams is a professor of physics in the Department of Physics at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He has extensively investigated silver and copper metallization for the past ten years. Dr Adams received his PhD in Materials Engineering from Arizona State University, USA.

Inhalt
Silver Thin Film Characterization.- Diffusion Barriers and Self-encapsulation.- Thermal Stability.- Silver Electromigration Resistance.- Integration Issues.- Summary.