Integrating pore sealing and barrier dielectric materials into back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) structures is challenging due to the requirements of high thermal stability, electrical stability (high breakdown, low leakage, and low dielectric constant), and barrier-like properties of the films. With Al etch-back metallization the dielectric needed to be stable to 450 °C due to Al reflow but now the thermal budget is shrinking with Cu metallization. Now the limiting factors are solder and ultra-low k (ULK) dielectric cure temperatures. These temperatures may still require thermal anneals exceeding 400 °C, which is very demanding on organic-based systems. Parylene X, a pore sealing chemical vapor depositable polymer, is deposited a room temperature via a precursor that allows the polymer to be self-initiated and without any by-products. The deposition platform allows controlled penetration of the organic polymer that allows significant fracture toughness improvement for the ULK dielectric. The polymer starts to cross-link at 175 °C with full conversion by 380 °C as measured by FT-IR spectroscopy. The polymer is shown to be stable to 420 °C with a dielectric constant of 2.7 and a leakage current of 0.5 × 10-9 A/cm2 at 0.67 MV/cm using MIMCAP structures. Parylene × was shown to have barrier-like properties in contact with both Ta and Cu metallization using bias-temperature stress (BTS) measurements at 0.5 MV/cm and 150 °C. In a Cu/Ta/parylene X/ULK dielectric stack, Ta a carbide former, can be used as an adhesive layer linking Cu to parylene × or the organic-based surface since parylene × has barrier-like properties.

The process of grain boundary (GB) grooving and cathode edge displacement in sandwich type thin film bamboo lines are simulated by introducing a new mathematical model. In the absence of the electric field, the computer studies on the triple junction kinetics show that it obeys the first order reaction kinetics at early transient stage, which is followed by the familiar time law as t^1/4, at the steady state regime. The applied electric field (EF) in constant current experiments modifies this time law drastically above the well-defined electron wind intensity (EWI) threshold, and puts an upper limit for the groove depth, which decreases monotonically with EWI. Below the threshold level, the capillary regime predominates, and EF has little effect on the general kinetics of GB grooving, other then the linear increase in total elapsed time with EWI.

Cu alloy has been suggested to enhance reliabilites in future technology. To evaluate the effects of alloying elements on electrical and mechanical reliabilities, Mg and Ru were chosen as alloying elements. Because alloying elements to Cu should not increase resistivity over comparable value to pure Cu, the resistivity of pure Cu, Cu-0.7at%Mg alloy and Cu-2.2at%Ru alloy was compared. Time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) under bias-temperature stress (BTS) tests were accomplished to evaluate the effect of alloying elements on dielectric reliability. The standard four point bending experiments were conducted to measure critical interfacial adhesion energy of conducting metal to SiO2. The relationship of the effect of alloying elements on reliabilities to distribution of alloying elements was analyzed using Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES). Our results show alloying Mg to Cu can enhance reliability by forming self-passivating layer on its surface and interface while Ru does not.

Precise wafer-to-wafer alignment accuracy is crucial to interconnecting circuits on different wafers in three dimensional integrated circuits. We discuss the use of fabricated structures on wafer surfaces to mechanically achieve higher alignment accuracy than can be achieved with our existing (baseline) alignment protocol. The keyed alignment structures rely on structures with tapered side-walls that can slide into each after two wafers are “pre-aligned” using our baseline alignment protocol. Results indicate that alignment accuracy is about a quarter micron, well below the one micron alignment accuracy obtained in our baseline alignment procedure using commercial state-of-the-art wafer alignment equipment. In addition to improving alignment, the alignment structures also hinder undesirable bonding-induced misalignment. The keyed alignment structures are also promising for nano-imprint lithography.

The thermal oxidation of Co alloy and Ni alloy thin films on top of Cu, has been studied as a function of film composition. Four different alloys were studied; CoWP, CoWB, CoMoB, and NiMoB. For the Co alloys, significant oxidation is observed after an air anneal above 350C, accompanied by Cu diffusion through the film to the surface. In contrast, for the NiMoB films, there is minimal oxidation of the surface even after a 400C anneal in air, and Cu diffusion through the film is greatly reduced. These results indicate that Ni-based barriers may be desirable in applications where self-aligned metal layers are used on top of Cu interconnects as a replacement for dielectric caps such as SiN and SiCN.

Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor (MIS) planar capacitors were fabricated in order to systematically investigate the effect of Cu and water in Cu/low-k structures by Triangular Voltage Sweep (TVS) measurements. We were able to resolve peculiar features in the TVS traces of Cu and water contaminated samples, which were related to Cu ions and protons, respectively. We demonstrate that these features can be used to distinguish the two ionic species. As these features do not depend on the specific dielectric, we provide a methodology to detect and distinguish Cu and water in porous low-k materials embedded in MIS structures.