DocumentCode
1372353
Title
Effects of NH3-plasma nitridation on the electrical characterizations of low-k hydrogen silsesquioxane with copper interconnects
Author
Liu, Po-Tsun ; Chang, Ting-Chang ; Yang, Ya-Liang ; Cheng, Yi-Fang ; Sze, Simon M.
Author_Institution
Nat. Nano Device Lab., Hsinchu, Taiwan
Volume
47
Issue
9
fYear
2000
fDate
9/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage
1733
Lastpage
1739
Abstract
The interaction between copper interconnects and low-k hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) film was investigated using a Cu/HSQ/Si metal insulation semiconductor capacitor and NH3 plasma post-treatment. Owing to serious diffusion of copper atoms in HSQ film, degradations of the dielectric properties are significant with the increase of thermal stress. The leakage current behavior in high field conduction is well explained by the Poole-Frenkel (P-F) mechanism. By applying NH3-plasma treatment to the HSQ film, however, the leakage current is decreased and P-F conduction can be significantly suppressed. In addition, the phenomenon of serious Cu penetration is not observed by means of electrical characteristic measurements and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analysis even in the absence of diffusion barrier layers. This indicates the copper diffusion in low-k HSQ film can he effectively blocked by NH3 plasma post-treatment
Keywords
MIS capacitors; Poole-Frenkel effect; copper; dielectric thin films; diffusion; hydrogen compounds; integrated circuit interconnections; leakage currents; nitridation; plasma materials processing; secondary ion mass spectra; Cu-HSiO-Si; Cu/HSQ/Si MIS capacitor; NH3; NH3 plasma nitridation; Poole-Frenkel leakage current; copper diffusion; copper interconnect; electrical characteristics; high field conduction; hydrogen silsesquioxane film; low-k intermetal dielectric; multilevel metallization; secondary ion mass spectroscopy; thermal stress; Capacitors; Copper; Dielectrics and electrical insulation; Hydrogen; Leakage current; Plasma measurements; Plasma properties; Semiconductor films; Thermal degradation; Thermal stresses;
fLanguage
English
Journal_Title
Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher
ieee
ISSN
0018-9383
Type
jour
DOI
10.1109/16.861584
Filename
861584
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