The evolution of thermal stresses in aluminum interconnects was analyzed numerically. Particular attention was devoted to the effects of multilevel arrangement, which have been largely ignored in past studies. Two-dimensional models based on long metal lines with different aspect ratios and cross-sectional arrangements were employed. The metallization, taken to include thin refractory layers sandwiching the aluminum conductor, was embedded within silicon oxide dielectric on top of the silicon substrate. A thermal cooling process was simulated by recourse to the finite element method.
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