Microstructure and He Bubble Effects on Al-Cu Thin Films

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe effects of film morphology (mosaic- or bamboo-like grain structures) and of He bubbles on the redistribution of Cu, as well as on the formation of Al-Cu precipitates in 200 nm thick Al/SiO2 films similar to microelectronic device interconnects, are investigated using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, elastic recoil detection analysis and transmission electron microscopy. As-deposited and pre-annealed Al films were implanted with Cu and/or He ions forming concentration profiles located 100 nm below the surface and with peak concentrations of about 3 at.%. It is shown that grain boundaries and/or He bubbles can affect the vacancy fluxes inside the grains and reduce or even inhibit the Cu redistribution as well as the nucleation and growth of θ and θ′ Al-Cu precipitates during post-implantation annealings at temperatures from 473 to 553 K. It is also shown that mosaic-like grain structures allow the control of grain size distribution within the 25 to 1500 nm size range, thus providing an additional microstructure engineering tool to improve device reliability against electromigration failures.