The orientation dependence of stored energy and the evolution of texture of through-thickness tantalum targets during heating

Abstract

In semiconductor integrated circuits, the orientation dependence of the stored energy and texture distribution uniformity of sputtering tantalum targets are critical to the properties of the deposited films which block the diffusion of Cu atoms into the storage cell Si. In this paper, the effect of heating rate on the recrystallization behavior was investigated with the aid of a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). In addition, the texture and stored energy of deformed tantalum targets with different heat treatments along the thickness direction were characterized using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The results show that the initial temperature of recrystallization rises but the temperature range reduces with the increase of the heating rates. The stored energy of deformed tantalum targets presents various orientation dependencies in different thickness layers. During the heating process, the stored energy difference among the grains with different orientations decreases, but the maximum difference of stored energy in different thicknesses increases inversely. The content of {101} oriented grains increases as the temperature increases, while the content changes of {111} and {001} present a waveform with an opposite trend.