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

9501111 Maroudas这是一个职业计划，重点是在与集成电路中器件互连所用金属薄膜的可靠性有关的领域进行研究和教学。 该计划的研究方面解决了薄膜化学成分对微观结构演变的影响，以及在薄膜加工和电路操作过程中涉及的电热和应力场下金属导体中损伤的传播。 该计划涉及原子尺度的建模，以预测表面和界面的薄膜性能和分析成分对晶粒结构演变的影响，沉淀物形成和空隙传播的动力学。 该计划的教育方面依赖于计算材料科学，以提供必要的工具来模拟实验观察，并将这些研究的结果引入研究生课程。 ***

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. ***