Abstract
In this study, Cu-2.2 at. % Nd alloy films using a co-sputtering deposition method were directly deposited onto porous low-dielectric-constant (low-k) films (SiOCH). The effects of CuNd alloy film on the electrical properties and reliability of porous low-k dielectric films were studied. The electrical characteristics and reliability of the porous low-k dielectric film with CuNd alloy film were enhanced by annealing at 425 °C. The formation of self-forming barrier at the CuNd/SiOCH interface was responsible for this improvement. Therefore, integration with CuNd and porous low-k dielectric is a promising process for advanced Cu interconnects.
Highlights
For back end of line interconnects in advanced integrated circuits (ICs), copper (Cu) and porous low-dielectric-constant materials have been widely used to reduce the resistance–capacitance (RC) time delay and improve operating performance [1,2,3]
The porous low-k dielectric films used in this study were deposited on p-type (100) silicon substrates by a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method
Cu-2.2 at. % Nd alloy films were deposited by physical vapor deposition onto the porous low-k filmat.and annealed at 425
Summary
For back end of line interconnects in advanced integrated circuits (ICs), copper (Cu) and porous low-dielectric-constant (low-k) materials have been widely used to reduce the resistance–capacitance (RC) time delay and improve operating performance [1,2,3]. To avoid the direct contact of Cu and porous low-k materials, a barrier is required to prevent Cu diffusion into the dielectric film [4,5] This barrier increases wiring resistance and the increasing magnitude grows as the IC critical dimension continues to shrink. For advanced ICs, the increasing height-to-width (aspect) ratio for via and trench structures makes the conformal deposition of a barrier and no-void filling of Cu film more challenging [7] To solve these issues for 32 nm technological nodes and beyond with a further smaller feature size, the chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or atomic layer deposition (ALD), method was proposed to replace the traditional physical vapor deposition (PVD) method [8,9]. The accompanying problems are high leakage currents and severely degraded reliability [10]
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