Evaluation of Electromigration Activation Energy by Means of Noise Measurements and MTF Tests

Activation energy Ea of grain-boundary vacancies was evaluated by means of noise measurements and MTF tests in narrow Al/Si (1%) resistors. The values obtained by these techniques are 0.93 and 0.96 eV respectively. Noise measuremen-ts revealed that after every temperature change the microstructure of the films was unstable. The presence of instabilities can strongly affect the Ea value.