Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Rhode Island, 2007 / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-105).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 104 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-104).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-165).

The trend in integrated circuit (IC) technology is beginning to move from very large-scale integration (VLSI) to ultra large-scale integration (ULSI) circuitry. Electromigration threatens the reliability of these circuits. Copper interconnects are being extensively researched to replace the traditional aluminum lines. Electromigration studies were performed on single crystal copper lines. A (100) and a (110) oriented single crystal copper sample were each prepared from a bulk ( 100) copper sample by site specific focused ion beam milling. Preliminary findings show that the (100) line did not fail within the predetermined testing time and therefore possesses better electromigration properties over the (110) line. The (110) line failed in both contact pads and appears to be diffusion related. This study indicates that (100) oriented or ( 100) textured lines may perform better under conditions where electromigration issues may dominate. This study also shows the viability for performing further work on determining the preferred ,, crystallographic orientation for copper interconnects.

10A) was necessary to produce the large current densities typically found in railguns, and was able to simulate the skin effect on both the Cu rails and Al armature under static, long-term testing conditions. In this method, the effects of electromigration were discerned clearly, in dissociation from various movement related damage phenomena. The aluminum from the armature quickly reached its melting point via Joule heating due to high contact resistance at the armature-rail contact. Once liquid aluminum was formed, it rapidly migrated along the copper rail towards the negative terminal. This transport of liquid aluminum along the copper rails was attributed to electromigration of the liquid under the influence of the direct electric field. Once the aluminum began to be transported along the rail towards the cathode terminal, it alloyed with the copper rails and the resistance steadily increased in the circuit. Electromigration is shown to be a contributing factor to the degradation of aluminum armatures performance and copper rails lifespan in the railgun.

Chan Lai To = 硏究巨磁阻自旋閥磁記錄頭的靈敏度與溫度之關係 / 陳麗圖. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-83). / Text in English; abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chan Lai To = Yan jiu ju ci zu zi xuan fa ci ji lu tou de ling min du yu wen du zhi guan xi / Chen Litu. / Abstracts --- p.ii / 論文摘要 --- p.iii / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Figures --- p.viii / Abbreviations --- p.xi / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- History of Data Storage in Computers --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Structure and Working Principle of the Recording Head of a Magnetic Disk Storage device --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Structure of a Current Magnetic Recording Head --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Principle of Recording --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2.2.1 --- General Operating Principle of a Magnetic Recording Head --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2.2.2 --- Principle of Recording using AMR Elements --- p.9 / Chapter 1.2.2.3 --- Principle of Recording using GMR Elements --- p.14 / Chapter 1.3 --- Reliability of Magnetic Recording Heads --- p.23 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Importance in the Determination of Reliability of Magnetic Recording Heads --- p.23 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Current Relevant Reliability Issues in the Field --- p.23 / Chapter 1.4 --- Objectives of the Thesis Work --- p.24 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Methodology --- p.25 / Chapter 2.1 --- Sample Preparation --- p.25 / Chapter 2.2 --- Principle of Amplitude Thermal Robustness Measurements --- p.28 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Black's Equation --- p.28 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Thermal Coefficient (TC) or Temperature Resistivity Coefficient Test --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Temperature Rise (TR) --- p.31 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Thermal Electrical (TE) Stress Test (Accelerated Test) --- p.34 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Maximum MR Resistance for Normal Device Operation --- p.38 / Chapter 2.3 --- Magnetic Field Effects Induced by the Biasing Current in an ATR Measurement --- p.40 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Experimental Results and Data Analysis --- p.41 / Chapter 3.1 --- Results of the ATR Measurement --- p.43 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Thermal Coefficient (TC) Test Result --- p.43 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Temperature Rise (TR) Results --- p.48 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Thermal Electrical (TE) Stress Test Result --- p.51 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Maximum MR Resistance for Normal Device Operation --- p.60 / Chapter 3.2 --- Preliminary Data from the Magnetic Field Effects Induced by the Biasing Current in an ATR Measurement --- p.61 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Discussion of Results and Failure Mechanisms --- p.62 / Chapter 4.1 --- Summary of the ATR characteristics of GMR heads --- p.62 / Chapter 4.2 --- "Comparison of ATR characteristics of AMR and GMR, and Discussion of Failure Mechanisms" --- p.63 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- ATR characteristics and Failure Mechanisms of AMR --- p.63 / Chapter 4.2.1.1 --- Summary of ATR characteristics of AMR heads --- p.63 / Chapter 4.2.1.2 --- Electromigration (EM) Induced Failure in AMR --- p.65 / Chapter 4.2.1.3 --- Diffusion Induced Failure in AMR --- p.67 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Possibility of Diffusion Induced Failure in GMR --- p.68 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Possibility of EM Induced Failure in GMR --- p.69 / Chapter 4.3 --- Magnetic-field Dependent ATR characteristics of GMR --- p.69 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Temperature Dependence of the Exchange Coupling Field --- p.70 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Rotation or Reversal of Magnetic Moments of the Pinned Layer --- p.75 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Relaxation of the Magnetization of the Pinning Layer --- p.77 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Conclusions and Suggestions for Future Work --- p.78 / References --- p.80

Thesis (M.S.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2009. / Title from PDF title page; viewed on January 5, 2010. Major professor: John Oliver, Ph.D. "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering." "November 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 90-92).

Electromigration related damage in solder bumps is one of the emerging issues resulting from the fast scaling-down of features in semiconductor packages. Although the electromigration phenomenon has been intensively studied on silicon level interconnect lines since the late 1960s, it is far less understood in solder bumps. Electromigration in solder joints can be quite different from that of the interconnects due to the differences in material systems and structures. This study addressed the solder joint electromigration and contained three major objectives. The first objective of this study was to set up an effective experimental technique to examine the damage development and determine the time-to-failure in the electromigration tests. The structure and dimension of the flip chip solder bump is very different from that of the chip level interconnect. Consequently, the traditional failure tracking method based on 2-point resistance monitoring is no longer able to provide real-time damage evolution information. A test system based on a Wheat stone bridge circuit was introduced. The technique showed the capability of detecting milliohm resistance changes and could track the interfacial crack growth induced by electromigration damage. Other aspects of the experiment, such as temperature and current distribution inside the test structure, were also examined so that proper lifetime could be extrapolated from testing condition to normal working condition. The second objective was to examine the failure mechanisms in solder bump electromigration which could be significantly different between various solder bump systems. Pb-free and high-Pb solder alloys with different UBM configurations were studied. The research results showed that the most active region during solder bump electromigration was the under bump metallization (UBM) layer and its interface with the solder due to the intermetallic compound formation and UBM dissolution. Therefore, the electromigration-induced damage occurred mostly in this region. The failure mechanisms were found to be highly dependent on the material system as well as the temperature. The third objective was to determine the statistical lifetime of the flip chip solder bumps under electromigration. Lognormal distributions were used to fit the lifetime. The temperature and current dependence was assumed to follow Black's equation and the activation energies was calculated from that. The results showed that the traditional Black's equation might not be applicable to solder bump electromigration due to the different failure mechanism at different temperatures. Special attention is needed to set up design rules for maximum operating current and temperature for a solder bump structure when extrapolating data from high temperature. / text

Thesis (Ph.D)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Meindl, James; Committee Co-Chair: Davis, Jeffrey; Committee Member: Callen, Russell; Committee Member: Gaylord, Thomas; Committee Member: Kohl, Paul; Committee Member: Mukhopadhyay, Saibal. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.