Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Improved resistance to electromigration and acoustomigration of Al interdigital transducers by Ni underlayer

  • Published:
Rare Metals Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The structure and morphology of Al interdigital transducers as a function of Ni underlayer thickness were studied. The Al (111) texture intensity increases first and then decreases as Ni underlayer thickness increases. 6-nm Ni underlayer results in the strongest Al (111) texture with flattest surface, which exhibits almost 10 times longer life in electromigration measurement than those without Ni underlayer. 1.5 GHz surface acoustic wave filters fabricated with Al film on 6-nm Ni underlayer also have improved power durability compared with those without Ni underlayer from 29.0 to 32.5 dBm. It is observed that those fine grains in the 6-nm Ni underlayer greatly enhance Al (111) texture. Together with increased adhesion force, strong Al (111) texture accounts for the improved resistance to electromigration and acoustomigration via the reduction of gains boundaries, resistivity, and fine grains at the interface, which is promising for high power surface acoustic wave filters.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bauer T, Eggs C, Wagner K, Hagn P. A bright outlook for acoustic filtering: a new generation of very low-profile SAW, TC SAW, and BAW devices for module integration. IEEE Microw Mag. 2015;16(7):73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Takayama R, Nakanishi H, Hashimoto KY. Impact of composition and structure of Al alloy electrodes to power durability of SAW devices. In: Proceeding of IEEE Ultrasonic Symposium. Chicago; 2014. 886.

  3. Matsuda S, Hara M, Miura M, Matsuda T, Ueda M, Satoh Y, Hashimoto KY. Use of fluorine-doped silicon oxide for temperature compensation of radio frequency surface acoustic wave devices. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2012;59(1):135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Cibert C, Chatras M, Champeaux C, Cros D, Catherinot A. Pulsed laser deposition of aluminum nitride thin films for FBAR applications. Appl Surf Sci. 2007;253(19):8151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Luo JT, Zeng F, Pan F, Li HF, Niu JB, Jia R, Liu M. Filtering performance improvement in V-doped ZnO/diamond surface acoustic wave filters. Appl Surf Sci. 2010;256(10):3081.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Liu HY, Zeng F, Tang GS, Wang GY, Song C, Pan F. Significant enhancement in electromigration resistance and texture of aluminum films using an ultrathin titanium underlayer. Acta Mater. 2013;61(12):4619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Li DM, Li Q, Pan F. Improvement in power durability of Al electrode films used in SAW devices by Zr additive and Ti underlayer. J Electron Mater. 2008;37(2):180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Nüssl R, Jewula T, Binninger C, Drozd R, Ruile W, Beckmeier D, Hansch W. Enhanced stress durability of nano resonators with scandium doped electrodes. Mater Charact. 2010;61(11):1054.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Li DM, Liu M. Improved electromigration reliability of surface acoustic wave devices using Ti/Al–Mo/Ti/Al–Mo electrodes. Rare Met. 2009;28(6):554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Satoh Y, Nishihara T, Ikata O, Ueda M, Ohomori H. SAW duplexer metallizations for high power durability. In: Proceeding of IEEE Ultrasonic Symposium. Sendai; 1998. 17.

  11. Nüssl R, Jewula T, Binninger C, Drozd R, Ruile W, Beckmeier D, Hansch W. Enhanced stress durability of nano resonators with scandium doped electrodes. Mater Charact. 2010;61(11):1054.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Nüssl R, Jewula T, Ruile W, Sulima T, Hansch W. Correlation between texture and mechanical stress durability of thin aluminum films. Thin Solid Films. 2014;556(1):376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Kim JY, Kim HJ, Cho HM, Yang HK, Park JC. Passivation layer effects on power durability of SAW duplexer. In: Proceeding of IEEE Ultrasonic Symposium. Caesars Tahoe; 1999. 39.

  14. Marks BW, Sheddrick DW, Jen S. Impact of SAW device passivation on RF performance. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2001;48(5):1362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Onoda H, Kageyama M, Hashimoto KY. Al-Si crystallographic-orientation transition in Al-Si/TiN layered structures and electromigration performance as interconnects. J Appl Phys. 1995;77(2):885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Toyoda H, Kawanoue T, Hasunuma M, Kaneko H, Miyauchi M. Improvement in the electromigration lifetime using hyper-textured aluminum formed on amorphous tantalum-aluminum underlayer. In: Proceedings of the 32nd International Reliability Physics Symposium. New York; 1994. 178.

  17. Kamijo A, Mitsuzuka T. A highly oriented Al [111] texture developed on ultrathin metal underlayers. J Appl Phys. 1995;77(8):3799.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Li DM, Pan F, Niu JB, Liu M. Enhancement of the orientation and adhesion of Al films on LiNbO3 with Ni underlayer. Rare Met. 2005;24(4):363.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Nüssl R, Senft C, Beckmeier D, Jewula T, Ruile W, Sulim T, Eisele I. Growth of highly textured aluminum films on LiTaO3 with optimized titanium intermediate layers. Thin Solid Films. 2011;519(22):8154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Nakagawara O, Saeki M, Teramoto A, Hasegawa M, Ieki H. High power durable SAW filter with epitaxial aluminium electrodes on 38.5° rotated YX LiTaO3 by two-step process sequence in titanium intermediate layer. In: Proceeding of IEEE Ultrasonic Symposium. Honolulu; 2003. 1734.

  21. Kimura N, Nakano M, Sato K. High power-durable RF-band SAW filters using single-crystal Al/Ti electrodes grown on 64° YX LiNbO3 substrates. Electron Lett. 1998;34(1):131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Qian LH, Lu QH, Kong WJ, Lu K. Electrical resistivity of fully-relaxed grain boundaries in nanocrystalline Cu. Scr Mater. 2004;50(11):1407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Hasunuma M, Toyoda H, Kaneko H. Electromigration induced aluminum atom migration retarding by grain boundary structure stabilization and copper doping. Microelectron Reliab. 1999;39(11):1631.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Kim DK, Nix WD, Vinci RP, Deal MD, Plummer JD. Study of the effect of grain boundary migration on hillock formation in Al thin films. J Appl Phys. 2001;90(2):781.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Menzel S, Pekarčikova M, Hofmann M, Gemming T, Wetzig K. Material transport in Al-metallizations of power-loaded SAW structures. Appl Surf Sci. 2005;252(1):215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Eberl C, Spolenak R, Kraft O, Ruile W, Arzt E. Fatigue damage in thin film Al interconnects at ultra-high frequency: a finite element analysis approach. Thin Solid Films. 2007;515(6):3291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Eberl C, Spolenak R, Arzt E, Kubat F, Leidl A, Ruile W, Kraft O. Ultra high-cycle fatigue in pure Al thin films and line structures. Mater Sci Eng A. 2006;421(1):68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Eberl C, Spolenak R, Kraft O, Kubat F, Ruile W, Arzt E. Damage analysis in Al thin films fatigued at ultrahigh frequencies. J Appl Phys. 2006;99(11):113501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Pekarcikova M, Hofmann M, Menzel S, Schrnidt H, Gemming T, Wetzig K. Investigation of high power effects on Ti/Al and Ta–Si–N/Cu/Ta–Si–N electrodes for SAW devices. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2005;52(5):911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Kubat F, Ruile W, Hesjedal T, Stotz J, Rosler U, Reindl LM. Calculation and experimental verification of the acoustic stress at GHz frequencies in SAW resonators. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2004;51(11):1437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFB0402700) and Beijing Science and Technology Project (No. D171100004617001).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials (MOE), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Qi Li, Su-Lei Fu, Cheng Song, Guang-Yue Wang, Fei Zeng & Feng Pan

Authors
  1. Qi Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Su-Lei Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cheng Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Guang-Yue Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Fei Zeng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Feng Pan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fei Zeng.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, Q., Fu, SL., Song, C. et al. Improved resistance to electromigration and acoustomigration of Al interdigital transducers by Ni underlayer. Rare Met. 37, 823–830 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-018-1050-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-018-1050-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation