Title :
Electrical leakage at low-K polyimide/TEOS interface
Author :
Loke, Alvin L S ; Wetzel, Jeffrey T. ; Stankus, John J. ; Angyal, Matthew S. ; Mowry, Brian K. ; Wong, S. Simon
Author_Institution :
Center for Integrated Syst., Stanford Univ., CA, USA
fDate :
6/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
The effect of low-K polymer passivation on electrical leakage was investigated to evaluate the reliability of polymer integration on device wafers. Polyimide passivation over Al(0.5% Cu) interconnects inlaid in TEOS increases the intralevel leakage current mainly along the polyimide/TEOS interface. Moisture absorbed in the polyimide further increases the inter facial as well as bulk leakages. These findings emphasize the importance of separating interconnects from direct contact with polyimide/TEOS interfaces to alleviate electrical isolation problems in multilevel interconnect architecture that employs low-K polymer dielectrics.
Keywords :
dielectric thin films; integrated circuit interconnections; integrated circuit reliability; isolation technology; leakage currents; moisture; passivation; permittivity; polymer films; AlCu; bulk leakage; device wafers; electrical isolation problems; electrical leakage; interfacial leakage; intralevel leakage current; low-K polyimide/TEOS interface; moisture; multilevel interconnect architecture; polyimide; polymer passivation; reliability; Current measurement; Dielectric substrates; Etching; Laboratories; Leakage current; Moisture; Passivation; Polyimides; Polymers; Testing;
Journal_Title :
Electron Device Letters, IEEE
