Reliability
Analysis Associates, Inc.

1440 North Lake Shore Drive, #30F,
Chicago, IL 60610

Phone:
312-274-0542;  Fax: 312-274-0574;  E-mail: reliability@nidus.com

The exponential growth in integrated device density has yielded high-performance microprocessors containing almost 1 billion transistors per chip for the current 65 nm technology. Continuous scaling of the devices and performance requires innovations in materials, processes, and designs for both back-end-of-line (BEoL) interconnects and packaging structures. Mechanical reliability has been a limiting factor for implementation of new materials and processes.

Our agency, Reliability Analysis Associates, Inc., specializes in recruiting Reliability Engineers and related skills.   For a client in the oil business in Houston, TX we are seeking candidates for two positions that require knowlege of finite element analysis, crack growth, reliability, and low cycle fatigue.   The two job descriptions are attached.

Abstract: 

We invite you to participate in the upcoming Workshop on Materials Characterization for Nanoscale Reliability, to take place 14-16 August, 2007 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. Details are posted at http://www.boulder.nist.gov/div853/Nanoscale_Reliability_workshop/index.....

The purpose of the workshop is to bring together recognized experts in a wide variety of fields, representing the multidisciplinary nature of nanoscience, to discuss MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION and MODELING ISSUES of critical importance to ASSESSING and IMPROVING the MECHANICAL RELIABILITY of extremely fine-scale materials. One goal of the workshop is the creation of a roadmap for nanoscale characterization and modeling techniques for the next 5 to 10 years.

M.A. Hussein and Jun He (Intel Corporation)

IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, vol. 18, No. 1, p.69-85, 2005

In this work, we explain how the manufacturing technology and reliability for advanced interconnects is impacted by the choice of metallization and interlayer dielectric (ILD) materials. The replacement of aluminum alloys by copper, as the metal of choice at the 130nm technology node, mandated notable changes in integration, metallization, and patterning technologies. Those changes directly impacted the reliability performance of the interconnect system. Although further improvement in interconnect performance is being pursued through utilizing progressively lower dielectric constant (low-k) ILD materials from one technology node to another, the inherent weak mechanical strength of low-k ILDs and the potential for degradation in the dielectric constant during processing, pose serious challenges to the implementation of such materials in high volume manufacturing. We will consider the cases of two ILD materials; carbon-doped silicon dioxide (CDO) and low-k spin-on-polymer to illustrate the impact of ILD choice on the process technology and reliability of copper interconnects. preprint pdf 2.49 MB