Breaking point

A new method for testing the toughness of dielectric material could lead to more reliable electronic devices.

The technique, developed by researchers at the

(NIST) in the US, measures a dielectric material's resistance to fracture using equipment that most microelectronic manufacturers will already own.

The performance of dielectric material is becoming increasingly important as electronic devices, and subsequently their integrated circuits, shrink in size.

Integrated circuits are tiny electric circuits made up of layers of resistors, transistors and capacitors used to perform electronic functions in a device. These layers must be insulated using thin films of dielectric material to prevent electrical interference.

As circuits decrease in size, space becomes increasingly cramped and designers are being forced to make insulating films more porous with nanoscale voids. Unfortunately, this also makes the films more fragile.

Robert Cook, NIST researcher, who worked with dielectric films for IBM two decades ago, said the fragility of the material has been a problem chip manufacturers have been trying to grapple with for a long time.