Role of Stress-Driven Interfacial Instability in the Failure of Confined Electric Interconnects

We examine the possible role of stress-driven surface instability in the failure of electric interconnects found in large-scale integrated circuits. While electromigration is commonly known as the main reason behind interconnect failure, the complex interplay of electromigration-induced mass transport and stress-induced transport has also been studied extensively since the discovery of the Blech effect due to its importance in …