Electromigration Failures in Integrated Circuits: A Review of Physics-Based Models and Analytical Methods

Electromigration (EM), current-driven atomic diffusion in interconnect metals, critically threatens integrated circuit (IC) reliability via void-induced open circuits and hillock-induced short circuits. This review examines EM’s physical mechanisms, influencing factors, and advanced models, synthesizing seven primary determinants: current density, temperature, material properties, microstructure, geometry, pulsed current, and mechanical stress. It dissects the coupled contributions of electron wind force (dominant EM driver), thermomigration (TM), and stress migration (SM). The review assesses four foundational modeling frameworks: Black’s model, Blech’s criterion, atomic flux divergence (AFD), and Korhonen’s theory. Despite advances in multi-physics simulation and statistical EM analysis, achieving predictive full-chip assessment remains computationally challenging. Emerging research prioritizes the following: (i) model order reduction methods and machine-learning solvers for verification of EM in billion-scale interconnect networks; and (ii) physics-informed routing optimization to inherently eliminate EM violations during physical design. Both are crucial for addressing reliability barriers in IC technologies and 3D heterogeneous integration.