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This letter reports the effects of via current density on electromigration (EM) failure in Al–0.5 Cu conductors. Two-level metallization structures, differing in the number of feeding vias (1, 6, and 15), were made with the same pattern of Al lines at two levels to allow simultaneous EM testing of upper- and lower-level lines. It was established that the lower-level lines were more susceptible to the impact of the via, resulting in a failure by the formation of a local void beneath a via and a strong dependence of EM lifetime on the via current density. The results led to a phenomenological equation that incorporates via structure into failure kinetics.