When the dielectric constant of an insulator in an interconnect is reduced, mechanical properties are often compromised, giving rise to significant challenges in interconnect integration and reliability. Due to low adhesion of the dielectric an interfacial crack may occur during fabrication and testing. To understand the effect of interconnect structure, an interfacial fracture mechanics model has been analyzed for patterned films undergoing a typical thermal excursion during the integration process. It is found that the underlayer pattern generates a driving force for delamination and changes the mode mixity of the delamination. The implications of our findings to interconnect processes and reliability testing have been discussed.

Zhen Zhang and Zhigang Suo

For a crack impinging upon a bimaterial interface at an angle, the singular stress field is a linear superposition of two modes, usually of unequal exponents, either a pair of complex conjugates, or two unequal real numbers. In the latter case, a stronger and a weaker singularity coexist (known as split singularities). We define a dimensionless parameter, called the local mode mixity, to characterize the proportion of the two modes at the length scale where the processes of fracture occur. We show that the weaker singularity can readily affect whether the crack will penetrate, or debond, the interface.