CAREER: Effects of Chemical Composition and Processing Conditions on Microstructure Evolution and Electromigation Resistance in Metallic Thin Films

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9501111 Maroudas This is a CAREER program with emphasis on both research and teaching in the area concerned with the reliability of metallic thin films used in device interconnections in integrated circuits. The research aspects of the program address the effects of thin-film chemical composition on the evolution of the microstructure and the propagation of damage in the metallic conductor under electric thermal and stress fields involved during thin-film processing and circuit operation. The program involves atomic-scale modeling to predict surface and interfacial thin-film properties and analysis of compositional effects on grain-structure evolution, the dynamics of precipitate formation and void propagation. The educational aspect of the program relies on computational materials science to offer the necessary tools to model the experimental observations and to introduce the results of these studies into graduate-level courses. ***