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The description of events at the atomic level with computer memory restrictions and its application to the study of the accumulation and depletion of matter is discussed. Experiments involve the simulation of atom motion during electromigration by a Monte Carlo computer program. Two dimensions of current density were determined by the program. The utility of the model was demonstrated.

A compact, efficient electrical dual-circuit topology for the representation of transient thermal coupling is presented. Based on controlled sources, the method allows an arbitrary level of complexity to be used for each self and coupled response. Two possible variations on the circuit form, and the resulting requirements for model extraction, are developed. The method is applied to the modeling of transient thermal self-heating and coupling data for a pair of thermal sources representative of integrated device structures in semi-infinite homogeneous as well as trench-isolated substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-Q broadband passives are needed for monolithic microwave circuits in silicon. Coplanar waveguides (CPWs) provide an effective way to implement passives in silicon monolithic microwave integrated circuits. Silver "fat" wires in the backend interconnects, used for CPW fabrication, will reduce the bulk resistive loss in metallization to the lowest possible level, which is vital to minimize noise. Electromigration, electrochemical migration, and agglomeration issues are not a problem for silver microwave passives, because of their coarse dimensions and the low current densities encountered in these structures. In this letter, Ag and Cu CPWs were designed, fabricated and tested. Silver CPWs showed a 2-3 Ω/cm improvement in resistance over copper devices at 20 GHz. A circuit was identified in which the application of silver passives could provide an improvement in noise performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]