Deuterium post-metallization anneal of electrochemical-plated Cu film deposited on different barrier materials

• Published in: Thin solid films 2004-08, Vol.461 (2), p.294-300
• Main Authors: Wu, You-Lin, Hwang, Yi-Cheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Annealing; Cold working, work hardening; annealing, post-deformation annealing, quenching, tempering recovery, and crystallization; Cold working, work hardening; annealing, quenching, tempering, recovery, and recrystallization; textures; Copper; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Deuterium; Electrodeposition, electroplating; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Metallization; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Physics; Treatment of materials and its effects on microstructure and properties
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2004.01.063

In this paper, we report on electrochemical-plated (ECP) copper (Cu) film characterizations with different (Ta, TaN and TiN) barrier materials subjected to post-metallization-annealing (PMA) in deuterium (D 2) under various annealing conditions. For comparison, post-metallization-anneal of the ECP Cu film in pure nitrogen (N 2) and forming gas (20% hydrogen+80% nitrogen) were also performed. We used four-point probe to determine the sheet resistance. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the surface morphology of the after-annealed ECP Cu films. X-ray-diffraction (XRD) analysis was used to inspect the texture of the ECP Cu films before and after PMA. The deuterium distribution in the barrier layer was determined by using the secondary ion mass spectroscopy depth profile analysis. We found that under appropriate PMA conditions, the sheet resistance of ECP Cu films deposited on TaN barrier was the lowest after D 2 PMA when compared with those deposited on TiN and Ta barriers.