The integration of high-density CNT bundles as via interconnects in a CNT/Cu-hybrid BEOL stack is evaluated. CNT via-conduits may greatly improve heat dissipation and as such lower interconnect resistance and improve electromigration resistance. Each carbon shell of the nanotube contributes to electrical and thermal conduction and densities as high as 5×1013 shells per cm2 are estimated necessary. CNT growth processes on BEOL compatible metals are presented with tube densities up to 1012cm−2 and shell densities approaching 1013 cm−2 on blanket substrates. Selective growth of CNT bundles with carbon shell densities around 1012cm−2 is demonstrated with high yield. Ohmic behavior of TiN/CNT/Ti contacts is shown with a CNT via resistivity of 1.2 mΩ cm.

Electromigration is a phenomenon that has attracted much attention in the semiconductor industry because of its deleterious effects on electronic devices (such as interconnects) as they become smaller and current density passing through them increases. However, the effect of the electric current on the microstructure of interconnect lines during the very early stage of electromigration is not well documented. In the present report, we used synchrotron radiation based polychromatic X-ray microdiffraction for the in-situ study of the electromigration induced plasticity effects on individual grains of an Al (Cu) interconnect test structure. Dislocation slips which are activated by the electric current stressing are analyzed by the shape change of the diffraction peaks. The study shows polygonization of the grains due to the rearrangement of geometrically necessary dislocations (GND) in the direction of the current. Consequences of these findings are discussed.

Methyl depletion and subsequent moisture uptake have been found to be the primary plasma damages leading to dielectric loss in porous organosilicate (OSG) low-k dielectrics. A vacuum vapor silylation process was developed for dielectric recovery of plasma damaged OSG low-k dielectrics. The methyl or phenyl containing silylation agents were used to convert the hydrophilic -OH groups to hydrophobic groups. Compared with Trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) and Phenyltrimethoxysilane (PTMOS), Dimethyldichlorosilane (DMDCS) was found to be more effective in recovering surface carbon concentration and surface hydrophobicity. But the carbon recovery effect was limited to the surface region.

Alternatively, UV radiation with thermal activation was applied for dielectric recovery of plasma damaged OSG low-k dielectrics. The combined UV/thermal process was found to be efficient in reducing −OH, physisorbed water, and C=O bonds. The dielectric constant was recovered within 5% of the pristine sample and the leakage current was also much reduced. Aging test in air showed that no moisture retake was observed, indicating the repaired film was stable.

Porous low-k dielectrics were studied to determine the changes of optical properties after various plasma treatments for development of scatterometry technique for evaluation of the trench/via sidewall plasma damage. The SiCOH porogen based low-k films were prepared by PE-CVD. The deposited and UV-cured low-k films have been damaged by striping O2Cl2, O2, NH3 and H2N2 based plasmas and CF4/CH2F2/Ar etching plasma. Blanket wafers were studied in this work for the simplicity of thin film optical model. The optical properties of the damaged low-k dielectrics are evaluated the using various angle spectroscopic ellipsometry in range from 2 to 9 eV. Multilayer optical model is applied to fit the measured quantities and the validity is supported by other techniques. The atomic concentration profiles of Si, C, O and H were stated by TOF-SIMS and changes in overall chemical composition were derived from FTIR. Toluene and water based ellipsometric porosimetry is involved to examine the porosity, pore interconnectivity and internal hydrophilicity.

Self-aligned Cobalt silicide as ohmic contact layer on sub 100 nm hole patterned Si vertical diode formed by silicon epitaxial growth (SEG) is investigated and silicon epitaxial growth of higher than 4000 Å thickness and good crystalinity for PN diode has been successfully developed. Also, electrical isolation of 100 nm pitch size between diode and diode, and removal of unreacted Co/Ti/TiN layer have been realized by dip-out process without CMP simultaneously. Through the mechanism of void formation due to the variation of Si consumption rate during silicidation at limited hole pattern dimension, critical Co and Capping Ti thickness are investigated as various hole dimensions (80∼120 nm), and then with p+ type dopant species (49BF2, 11B). The ratio of Co thickness to hole dimension demonstrates void free cobalt silcidation on various pattern sizes of silicon epitaxial growth. Silicon epitaxial growing PN diodes including void free CoSi2 show excellent electrical performance, especially lower than 10 pA reverse off leakage current.

Scaling down the devices to keep increasing the integrated circuits (ICs) performance at the rate defined by Moore's [1] law becomes more and more difficult and so costly that new circuits architectures and new integration technologies are investigated. One of the most promising ways in integration technology is the vertical stacking of circuits, also called “3D Integration”. One of the challenges in this technology is the patterned substrate backside thinning. Compatibility with the whole 3D Integration process has to be guaranteed, the existing circuit has to be kept intact and the bonding interface mustn't be damaged. In this study we discuss some experimental results of wafer thinning by grinding and polishing of molecular bonded silicon wafers applied to 3D Integration [2-4]. The wafer with patterned copper interconnections are stacked by direct SiO2 bonding and thinned down on one backside. These stacks are then bonded again to one or two circuits via a deposited oxide on the thinned surface. The top bulk Si surface was thinned down again on one backside, giving a multi layers stack. This wafer level vertical assembly demonstrates the possibility to adjust the remaining Silicon thickness to small values (<15μm) and then bond the thinned surface to achieve multiple layer 3D structure.

We report NiSi and Ni(Pt)Si films with excellent thermal stability showing a particular crystal orientation on Si(001). The Ni-silicide film with a deposition temperature of about 200 °C consists of a conformal domain structure. We examined detail crystallographic analysis of silicide and clarified the psudo-epitaxial growth of NiSi(202)//Si(220) [or NiSi(211)//Si(220)] was the key scheme of superior thermal stability. By using this optimized Ni-silicide formation process, we have fabricated Ni-silicide that is thermally stable up to 650 °C and shows low fluctuation in sheet resistance and low leakage current in electrical measurements. This process is a promising candidate for future silicidation technology.

Ultrasonic consolidation process is a rapid manufacturing process used to join thin layers of metal at low temperatures and low energy consumption. In this work, finite element method has been used to simulate the ultrasonic consolidation of Aluminium alloys 6061 (AA-6061) and 3003 (AA-3003). A thermomechanical material model has been developed in the framework of continuum cyclic plasticity theory which takes into account both volume (acoustic softening) and surface (thermal softening due to friction) effects. A friction model based on experimental studies has been developed, which takes into account the dependence of coefficient of friction upon contact pressure, amount of slip, temperature and number of cycles. Using the developed material and friction model ultrasonic consolidation process has been simulated for various combinations of process parameters involved. Experimental observations are explained on the basis of the results obtained in the present study. The current research provides the opportunity to explain the differences of the behaviour of AA-6061 and AA-3003 during the ultrasonic consolidation process. Finally, trends of the experimentally measured fracture energies of the bonded specimen are compared to the predicted friction work at the weld interface resulted from the simulation at similar process condition. Similarity of the trends indicates the validity of the developed model in its predictive capability of the process.

This paper describes the synthesis of binary nanoparticles consisting of a noble metal and a magnetic component. These heterostructures were produced by a seeded-growth approach in aqueous solution. FePt nanoparticles, as the magnetic component, were first synthesized in an organic medium, subsequently transferred into water, and finally used as seeds for the growth of the noble metal Au. This procedure results in FePt-Au heterostructures. Moreover, the synthesized heterodimers were organized into mesoscopic lines under the influence of an externally applied magnetic field. The produced heterostructures were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-vis spectroscopy.

Plasma etch/ash processes can induce changes in low-k film surface/bulk chemistries and topographies resulting in increased water absorption, surface roughness, and metal intrusion. After ashing, the altered surface character of the low-k can impact wetting, adhesion, and, consequently, the resistance of subsequently deposited barrier layers. In this work, we describe the use of deuterium oxide as means of measuring moisture penetration into low-k films. Film chemistries have been monitored using grazing angle attenuated total reflectance (GATR) and transmission Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). To study moisture absorption in porous spin-on and CVD low-k films, unashed and ashed films have been exposed to D2O liquid and vapor treatments under “dry” nitrogen. The extent of D2O uptake, removal and exchange reactions has been studied using transmission and GATR FTIR methods because the D2O and O-D adsorption peaks are distinct from water and O-H as well as other low-k adsorptions. This method can be used to study Si-OH species because deuterium can exchange with hydrogen within silanols under ambient conditions while methyl groups are much less likely to exchange. Three different low-k films, a porous spin-on MSQ (k=2.2), a porous CVD (k=2.3), and an organosilicate glass (OSG, k=2.85) have been used. In FTIR spectra, unashed low-k films show minimal D2O adsorption. In MSQ hydrogen-ashed films, the data suggest the presence of deuterium oxide and O-D peaks. Further, D2O adsorption appears to be considerably higher for ashed films as would be expected due to the hydrophobicity of these films. In the CVD films, there does not appear to be as marked a difference. This method permits the introduction of a chemical “marker” into low-k wet and ambient processes allowing one to distinguish among adsorptions from different aqueous sources.

Pd segregation at (001) B2-NiSi/Si epitaxial interface was studied by using density functional theory (DFT). An epitaxial interface between 2×2×4 (001) B2-NiSi supercell and 1×1×2 (001) Si supercell was first constructed by adjusting the lattice parameters of B2-NiSi structure to be matched with those of Si structure. We chose Ni atoms as terminating layer of the B2-NiSi, and an equilibrium gap between the B2-NiSi and Si was calculated to be 1.1 Å. The Ni atoms in the structure moved away from the original positions along z-direction in a systematic way during the energy minimization. Two different Ni sites were identified at the interface and the bulk, respectively. The Ni sites at the interface farther away from the interface were more favorable for Pd substitution.

Low-k materials in advanced interconnect modules are required not only to lower the parasitic capacitances, but also to have mechanical stability with damage-less interfaces. By plasma-polymerization (PP) process using ring-type siloxane precursor, a new self-organized porous SiOCH film is developed with preserving the original hexagonal silica-backbone structure, thus so called as a molecular-pore-stack (MPS) SiOCH film. The hydrocarbon-rich MPS film has high endurance to the process damages. A density-modulated MPS film is obtained with reinforced interfaces by plasma co-polymerization (PcP) process using not only the ring-type but also linear-type siloxane. Furthermore, an ultimate full low-k module with low-k silica-amorphous-carbon composite (SACC) cap, instead of high-k SiCN, is also obtained simply by the one-step deposition scheme. The modulated PcP process and the sophisticated molecular design of the precursor siloxane provides scaled-down interconnect modules with good mechanical strength and excellent dielectric reliability at a low manufacturing cost, applicable for 45/32/22nm-nodes ULSIs.

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to evaluate the extent of liquid phase formation in particle compacts (compressed dry powders) comprised of organically capped nano-scale Ag particles and Sn. The Ag nanoparticles employed where synthesized with various organic molecules and procedures to produce particles with a range of capping thicknesses and decomposition temperatures (Td), as measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). A baseline sample containing commercially available un-capped micrometer scale Ag was also investigated for comparison. Results indicate that all of the Sn initially present formed a liquid phase when heated through its melting point when combined with Ag particles exhibiting a comparatively thick cap of low Td. Slightly smaller fractions of Sn liquid were obtained when the Ag's cap was thin and of a high Td while particles with thin-low Td caps exhibited the highest levels of Sn consumption and similar to that observed with the un-capped micron-scale Ag particles. The reduction in the amount of Sn liquid formed is attributed to solid state reaction between the Ag and Sn particles resulting in the formation of a more refractory phase. The extent of the subsequent liquid phase reaction was also evaluated and is demonstrated to not necessarily be adversely effected by the presence of the organics. The significance of this work is the demonstration that organic molecules may be employed to prevent solid state reaction in particle compacts at elevated temperatures, yet allow the subsequent liquid phase reaction proceed uninhibited.

We present the results of a systematic benchmarking study, using 45nm-groundrule structures, of a commercially-available ionized PVD Cu technology which employs an in-situ Ar+ radio-frequency (Rf) plasma capability for enhanced coverage, and compare its performance and extendibility against the same seedlayer process operated in conventional low-pressure mode. Studies of single-damascene lines and dual-damascene via structures indicate that the PVD Cu seedlayer with Rf-Plasma enhancement enables a reduction of the PVD Cu seed thickness on the order of 35%, based on studies of Cu voiding, via-yield degradation, and transmission-electron microscopy (TEM). These results illustrate the critical importance of the Rf-plasma resputter capability in extending the PVD Cu process to advanced groundrules at 45nm and beyond.

With decreasing feature sizes for every technology node, multi-level metallization schemes that employ copper interconnects and low-k dielectrics are required to achieve the requisite circuit performance. Here, the effects of the mechanical stresses originating from the packaging process on Cu/Low-k interconnects are assessed. The impact of package defects on interconnect reliability is also analyzed. It is seen that the package reliability varies with underfill mechanical properties. The packaging process introduces global level stresses that propagate to the local, i.e. interconnect, level. Moreover, the package defects also have an adverse impact on the mechanical stresses in the metallization structure. The package defects alter the mechanical stresses in the metal lines and affect the reliability. The complex interaction between packaging process induced stresses, package level defects and mechanical properties of various materials is analyzed in order to create robust interconnect designs.

A tool has been developed that can be used to characterize or validate a BEOL interconnect technology. It connects various process assumptions directly to electrical parameters including resistance. The resistance of narrow copper lines is becoming a challenging parameter, not only in terms of controlling its value but also understanding the underlying mechanisms. The resistance was measured for 45nm-node interconnects and compared to the theory of electron scattering. This work will demonstrate how valuable it is to directly link the electrical models to the physical on-wafer dimensions and in turn to the process assumptions. For example, one can generate a tolerance pareto for physical and or electrical parameters that immediately identifies those process sectors that have the largest contribution to the overall tolerance. It also can be used to easily generate resistance versus capacitance plots which provide a good BEOL performance gauge. Several examples for 45nm BEOL will be given to demonstrate the value of these tools.

The diffusion of aluminum (Al) from a source sandwiched between polycrystalline copper (Cu) thin films was investigated as a function of time and temperature through secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and continuum simulations. Extracted diffusion coefficients for the bulk were in line with literature values. In order to simulate the experimentally derived diffusion profiles at temperatures where bulk diffusion is not the dominant diffusion mechanism (room temperature to 350 °C), it was necessary to explicitly include the re-distribution of Al as a result of Cu grain growth during anneal. Aluminum has the tendency to segregate to the Cu/liner and Cu/etch stop (ES) interface. The tendency of Al to segregate to the liner is ten times stronger for ruthenium (Ru) than for tantalum (Ta). In 100 nm wide dual damascene structures lined with Ru, this segregation behavior was responsible for the Al depletion in bulk Cu and for the Al depletion at the Cu/ES interface.

In this paper, mechanical reliability of “air gap” structures has been evaluated when a copper line is completely surrounded with air. Different Finite Element (FE) simulation models have been used on a 2-metal level structure to study the M2 copper line bow evolution as a function of its dimensions if complete air cavities are generated underneath (i.e. at via level). Design rules information may therefore be obtained to optimize “air gap” integration considering the 65 nm and 22 nm technology nodes. Thus, we not only highlight that M2 copper line can not collapse considering our failure criterion but that M2 bow variation may also be improved when a tensile SiCN capping layer is deposited on top of the structure. The influence of the interline spacing vs. M2 bow has also been studied and we show that its increase is a beneficial parameter for the air gap structure. In opposite, we demonstrate that buckling can occur when a compressive SiCN layer is used. Finally, we accurately predict the M2 bow variation for air gap structures of the 65 nm and 22 nm technology nodes, but stress and strain distribution can complementary be provided. Those results highlight interesting criteria for designers to build reliable air gap structures.

We study basic problems of the semiconductor film bonding technology. We propose a new releasing method for a large number of semiconductor films using the film photoresist to protect the semiconductor films. We investigated the basic process conditions. We successfully released a large number of the GaAs film and bonded them on the Si, LiNbO3 substrates and metal Au surface. We estimated the ctystallinity of semiconductor films by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectral. The results clarified that these process were effective. As an application of the semiconductor film bonding technology, we fabricated a two-axis Hall sensor with planar structure. The two-axis hall sensor can measure axial and radial magnetic filed components (Bx and Bz) with a sensitivity of about 9.2 Ω/G for Bz and 4.5 Ω/G for Bx respectively.

Self-forming barrier process was carried out on a porous low-k material with the Cu-Mn alloys. The effects of various surface treatments were investigated in the sample having a pore size of 0.9 nm and a porosity of 25%. Before and after annealing, samples were analyzed in cross section with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Concentration profile was also analyzed with time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS). The results indicated the penetration of Cu into the low-k interior during deposition, followed by the segregation of Cu at the low-k/Si interface during subsequent annealing. Although a diffusion barrier layer was formed and no further Cu penetration was not observed during annealing, initial Cu penetration in the deposition process was detrimental and should be prevented by restoring the plasma damage on the low-k surface.