Evaluation of microstructure and stress of Cu damascene interconnects using SPM

Author

Ji, Y. ; Luo, D. ; Wang, X.D. ; Li, Z.G. ; Sun, Y.H. ; Lu, Z.J. ; Zong, B. ; Xia, Y. ; Zhang, G.H. ; Balk, L.J. ; Liu, X.X.

Author_Institution

Beijing Polytech. Univ., China

Volume

2

fYear

2002

fDate

6/24/1905 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

781

Abstract

Microstructures and sub-micron scale stresses of the Cu damascene architecture were analyzed via atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning near-field acoustic microscopy (SNAM). SNAM images display an acoustic contrast, which is proportional to the local stress in the metal/dielectric trench regions. The architecture-induced mechanical stress and deposition-induced thermal stress affect the Cu grain microstructure, and hence affect the reliability of Cu interconnects.

Keywords

acoustic microscopy; atomic force microscopy; copper; crystal microstructure; integrated circuit interconnections; integrated circuit metallisation; integrated circuit reliability; integrated circuit testing; internal stresses; thermal stresses; AFM; Cu; Cu damascene architecture; Cu damascene interconnects; Cu grain microstructure; SNAM images; SPM; acoustic contrast; architecture-induced mechanical stress; atomic force microscopy; deposition-induced thermal stress; local stress; metal/dielectric trench regions; microstructure; reliability; scanning near-field acoustic microscopy; stress; Acoustic devices; Acoustic imaging; Atomic force microscopy; Atomic layer deposition; Copper; Electromigration; Microstructure; Scanning probe microscopy; Sun; Thermal stresses;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microelectronics, 2002. MIEL 2002. 23rd International Conference on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7235-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MIEL.2002.1003373

Filename

1003373