Electromigration: Difference between revisions

 

Nevertheless, there have been documented cases of product failures due to electromigration. In the late 1980s, one line of [[Western Digital]]'s desktop drives suffered widespread, predictable failure 12–18 months after field usage. Using forensic analysis of the returned bad units, engineers identified improper design-rules in a third-party supplier's IC controller. By replacing the bad component with that of a different supplier, WD was able to correct the flaw, but not before significant damage to the company's reputation.

 

Electromigration can be a cause of degradation in some [[power semiconductor device]]s such as low voltage [[power MOSFET]]s, in which the lateral current through the source contact metallisation (often aluminium) can reach the critical current densities during overload conditions. The degradation of the aluminium layer causes an increase in on-state resistance, and can eventually lead to complete failure.