Kinetics of hillock growth in Al and Al-alloys

Hillock growth kinetics and size distribution were investigated in Al, Al:Si 1% and Al:Si1%:Cu 0.5% layers. Metallization surface was examined by optical, SEM and TEM microscopy, stylus profiling and an automatic method of hillock recognition from a microscope image. The method allowed for counting hillocks in a desired range of their diameter d. Surface density of hillocks was measured as a function of time of furnace annealing at 400°C and as a function of temperature of RTP annealing. A maximum hillock size was found to increase linearly with metallization layer thickness and with logarithm of annealing time. A total area occupied by hillocks was evaluated. Hillock density decreased versus 1/T with an activation energy of 0.28 eV for Al and 0.31 eV for Al:Si. It was found, that a normalized hillock density N may be expressed by a formula N=N₀ exp(−cd). Values for N₀ and c are given together with a short discussion.