"NEW AUTOMOTIVE" - CONSIDERATIONS FOR RELIABILITY, ROBUSTNESS AND RESILIENCE FOR CMOS INTERCONNECTS

The technology evolution worsens the stress level of microelectronic applications. The shrinking, higher interconnect stacks, the diversity of functions, higher frequencies and power densities lead to higher stress and more interaction of effects. At package and assembly level the densification of internal interconnections, the combination of RF, digital, analog and power, new materials like lead free solder, more aggressive processes and 3D packages deliver new challenges for reliability performance. Requirements of harsh environment applications, the use of consumer products in cars or challenging mission profiles for automotive applications trigger new considerations about reliability determination and description, higher robustness and resilience. Presently the processes, design rules, reliability tests and specifications fit to standards which base on established degradation models and quality assurance processes. But the existing standards like electromigration and stress migration tests for interconnects do not cover all of the new requirements especially due to mechanical stress and stress related limits. The considerations for more robust, reliable and resilient products should encompass strategies for the identification of new failure mechanisms and their interactions, test structure and test method development, specification and validation concepts. The paper will explain by examples the challenges for reliability considerations from the perspective of process (primitive device), simulation and automotive industry. The examples will illustrate the difficulties, will highlight some existing gaps and will show first approaches for the description and specification of reliability and robustness.