Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
The effect of moisture and aqueous solution chemistry on the rate of crackgrowth in lithographically patterned arrays of copper and low dielectricconstant (LKD) materials is reported. Crack growth in the directionorthogonal to the features is demonstrated to fail at significantlyincreased loads compared to parallel cracking. Decreasing feature width isalso shown to increase the structures resistance to fracture, particularlyat reduced loads. The chemical interactions and mechanisms of energydissipation are discussed.