Integration of top metal layer with thick Cu/Black Diamond/spl trade/ (BD)

Thick copper (Cu)/Black Diamond/spl trade/ (BD) layer up to 4 /spl mu/m has successfully been integrated in CMOS interconnect process as top metal layer. The work shows that BD film is easy to crack when its thickness is up to 4 /spl mu/m. However, the stress in the entire dielectric film stack can be reduced by inserting one or few layers of dielectric material, BLOk/spl trade/. Although the reduction of the tensile stress of the stack is insignificant, the inserted BLOk/spl trade/ layer effectively prevents cracking from happening in the film stack. High performance RF inductors incorporating with 4 /spl mu/m of Cu/BD to-metal-layer in CMOS interconnection have been achieved.