Peter M. Fryer

Tantalum as a diffusion barrier between copper and silicon: Failure mechanism and effect of nitrogen additions

The interaction of Cu with Si separated by thin (50 nm) layers of tantalum, Ta2N, and a nitrogen alloy of Ta has been investigated to determine the factors that affect the success of these materials as diffusion barriers to copper. Intermixing in these films was followed as a function of annealing temperature by in situ resistance measurements, Rutherford backscattering spectra, scanning electron microscopy, and cross‐section transmission electron microscopy. Ta prevents Cu‐silicon interaction up to 550 °C for 30 min in flowing purified He. At higher temperatures, copper penetration results in the formation of η‘‐Cu3Si precipitates at the Ta‐Si interface. Local defect sites appear on the surface of the sample in the early stages of this reaction. The Ta subsequently reacts with the substrate at 650 °C to form a planar hexagonal‐TaSi2 layer. Ta silicide formation, which does not occur until 700 °C in a Ta‐Si binary reaction couple, is accelerated by the presence of Cu. Nitrogen‐alloyed Ta is a very similar...

Tantalum as a diffusion barrier between copper and silicon

We have investigated the effectiveness and failure mechanism of thin tantalum layers as diffusion barriers to copper. 50 nm tantalum films were sputtered onto unpatterned single‐crystal 〈100〉 Si wafers and overlaid with 100 nm Cu. Material reactions in these films were followed as a function of annealing temperature by in situ resistance measurements, and characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and cross‐section transmission electron microscopy. While pure Cu on Si reacts at 200 °C, the Ta film prevents Cu silicon interaction up to 600 °C. At higher temperatures, reaction of the Si substrate with Ta forms a planar layer of hexagonal TaSi2. Cu rapidly penetrates to the Si substrate, forming η‘‐Cu3Si precipitates at the Ta‐Si2‐Si interface.

Room‐temperature oxidation of silicon catalyzed by Cu3Si

We demonstrate remarkably rapid oxidation of (100) silicon at room temperature catalyzed by the presence of Cu3Si. Thermal oxidation of Si is normally carried out at temperatures above 700 °C. Oxidation of many metal silicides occurs more rapidly than that of Si, but under controlled conditions results in a surface layer of SiO2. In contrast, the oxidation process described here produces a thick layer of SiO2 underneath the copper‐rich surface layer. The SiO2 layer grows spontaneously to over 1 μm in thickness in several weeks in air at room temperature. Analysis by Rutherford backscattering, Auger electron spectroscopy, cross‐sectional transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy reveals the presence of Cu3Si at the buried SiO2/Si interface, epitaxially related to the underlying Si substrate. Catalytic action by this silicide phase appears responsible for the unusual oxidation process.

A 10.5-in.-diagonal SXGA active-matrix display

A 157-dot-per-inch, 262K-color, 10.5-in.- diagonal, 1280 × 1024 (SXGA) display has been fabricated using a six-mask process with Cu or Al-alloy thin-film gates. The combination of high resolution and gray-scale accuracy has been shown to render color images and text with paperlike legibility. The low-resistivity gate metallization and trilayer-type TFTs with a channel length of 6-8 µm were fabricated with a six-mask process which is extendible to larger, higher-resolution displays. A combination of double-sided driving and active line repair was used so that open gate lines or data lines did not result in visible line defects. A flexible drive-electronics system was developed to address the display and characterize its performance under different drive conditions.

A six-mask TFT-LCD process using copper-gate metallurgy

— A novel reduced mask process is used to fabricate high-resolution high-aperture-ratio 10.5-in. SXGA (1280 × 1024) displays. The process uses copper gate-metallurgy with redundancy, without the need for extra processing steps. The resulting displays have 150-dpi color resolution, an aperture ratio of over 35%, and excellent image quality, making them the first high-resolution displays that are suitable for notebook applications.

Chemical sputtering of Al2O3 by fluorine‐containing plasmas excited by electron cyclotron resonance

Reactive ion etching of aluminum oxide has been studied in CHF3 and SF6 plasmas generated by electron cyclotron resonance in conjunction with in situ ellipsometric measurement for thickness variation. Because of the involatility of etch products associated with aluminum, purely chemical reactions cannot desorb etch products at room temperatures, and ion bombardment is essential to etch Al2O3 through chemically enhanced physical sputtering. The higher the oxygen content in a film, the faster the etch rate, resulting from chemical sputtering due to volatile CO molecules in CHF3 plasmas. This dependence on composition is absent in SF6 plasma. The threshold ion energy for physi‐chemical sputtering by fluorine‐containing species is estimated to be about 20 eV at room temperature, while the threshold for Ar sputtering is 50 eV. In CHF3 plasmas, however, Al2O3 exhibits a larger threshold energy at a lower temperature due to passivating species which inhibit sputtering. These passivating species have a very weak ...

Tantalum and Tantalum Nitride as Diffusion Barriers Between Copper and Silicon

We have investigated the effectiveness of thin tantalum layers as diffusion barriers to copper. Fifty nm Ta films were sputtered onto unpatterned single crystal Si wafers and overlaid with 100 nm Cu. Material reactions in these films were followed as a function of annealing temperature by in-situ resistance measurements, and characterized by by Rutherford Backscattering and cross-section TEM. The effect of the incorporation of nitrogen was explored by reactively depositing Ta(5 at.% N) and Ta 2 N. Pure Ta prevents Cu - silicon interaction to at least 600 °C. At higher temperatures, reaction of the Si substrate with Ta forms a planar TaSi 2 layer. Cu rapidly penetrates to the Si substrate, forming Cu silicide precipitates at the TaSi 2 - Si interface. A study performed on the Si/Ta(N)/Cu film had very similar results. Ta 2 N is an even more effective barrier to copper penetration, preventing Cu reaction with the substrate for temperatures up to at least 700 °C.

Angular dependence of preferential sputtering and composition in aluminum‐copper thin films

The copper concentration in aluminum‐copper alloys can be altered by ion bombardment during film deposition. We have measured the sputtering yields of aluminum and copper in Al‐Cu alloys as a function of the Cu concentration (5–13 at. %) and the angle of ion incidence (0°–40° from normal). During deposition, the films were partially resputtered by 500 eV Ar+ ion bombardment from a Kaufman ion source. We found that the Cu sputtering yield decreases by up to a factor of 10 in the alloy, relative to elemental Cu. The Al sputtering yield remains close to the elemental value. The net effect is a strong preferential sputtering of Al relative to Cu, which enhances the Cu concentration in an ion‐bombarded film. The Al/Cu sputtering yield ratio for normal incidence ion bombardment ranges from 3 to 5 as a function of Cu concentration. This ratio decreases with increasing angle of incidence to as low as 2 for 40° incident ions. However, since a higher fraction of the film is resputtered from a sloping surface, a hig...