The presence of moisture is particularly critical for microelectronic applications, leading to overall performance degradation, metal corrosion within the integrated circuit, and even delamination between different layers. To protect the chips from environmental aggressions, a continuous metal interconnection structure, known as the “seal ring,” is placed around them. However, the integrity of this protective structure is sometimes compromised, often due to integration challenges during manufacturing, which raises obvious reliability concerns.
Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to elucidate the interactions between moisture and these new types of integrated circuits to establish an acceleration model (temperature and humidity) for industrial reliability testing. To achieve this, a comprehensive approach from material to integrated circuit was adopted. Previous work leading up to this thesis established the absorption properties of the main dielectric materials used in the Back End of Line (BEOL). Then, in my work, integrated circuits were studied through physico-chemical and electrical characterizations. By cross-referencing these analyses, a failure criterion was defined for the development of an acceleration model based on Peck’s model.
