Temperature-Dependent Material Characterization of Back-End-of-Line Copper with Nanoindentation for FEM-Based Wafer Warpage Prediction

Research output: Contribution to book/Conference proceedings/Anthology/ReportConference contributionContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Wafer warpage generated during the back-end-of-line semiconductor manufacturing is caused by high residual stresses induced in the wafer due to the mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion between various materials, such as metals and dielectrics, at high processing temperatures. The study emphasizes the critical role of accurate material data as an input parameter in the Finite Element Method model for precise warpage prediction. The lack of temperature-dependent material data such as Young's modulus, plasticity, and creep coefficients for copper is a significant challenge for reliable wafer warpage prediction. This study uses various temperaturedependent nanoindentation methods to characterize copper for the temperature range from room temperature to $400^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$. The study describes a Finite Element Method model to predict wafer warpage and propose guidelines for warpage reduction efforts, focusing on the influence of different metal line width configurations on stress induced in the wafer. With the availability of material data, the mechanical response of the metal layers is modeled using non-linear plasticity and timedependent creep behavior to simulate their deformation under thermal loads typically encountered during back-end-of-line wafer processing.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2025 26th International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Multi-Physics Simulation and Experiments in Microelectronics and Microsystems, EuroSimE 2025
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Number of pages13
ISBN (electronic)9798350393002
ISBN (print)979-8-3503-9301-9
Publication statusPublished - 9 Apr 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

Conference

Title26th International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Multi-Physics Simulation and Experiments in Microelectronics and Microsystems
Abbreviated titleEuroSimE 2025
Conference number26
Duration6 - 9 April 2025
Website
LocationCrowne Plaza Utrecht
CityUtrecht
CountryNetherlands

External IDs

Scopus 105007412083
ORCID /0000-0002-0757-3325/work/186183048
ORCID /0000-0001-9720-0727/work/192581609

Keywords

Keywords

  • Accuracy, Copper, Creep, Finite element analysis, Load modeling, Predictive models, Semiconductor device modeling, Temperature distribution, Temperature measurement, Thermal expansion, copper, creep, modeling, nanoindentation, plasticity, wafer warpage