Abstract :
Interconnects for advanced semiconductor devices are facing increasingly difficult challenges. Several material alternatives are being investigated in order to meet very strict requirements. Currently, copper is the most widely accepted material for advanced metallization. This article gives a general overview of the world-wide R&D effort underway to develop both manufacturable processes and their integration at each level of the interconnect structure. For each basic step, the state of the art is presented, with particular focus on the results obtained within the European Copper Interconnection Project (COIN).
