Effect of cracks in TiN anti-reflection coating layers on early via electromigration failure

Huang, Jia-Sheng; Oates, A. S.; Zhao, Jing

doi:10.1016/s0040-6090(00)01018-x

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…While in the OE integration scheme, if void formation underneath a via is accompanied by the cracking of TiN shunting layer, it can result in a fatal early via failure. This failure mode has been identified as one of the root causes for the early EM failure in the OE integration scheme and has been published elsewhere, 32 and it is understandable considering the large stress surrounding via in an OE structure. 29 4.…”

Section: Electrical Tests and Reliability Tests Results-mentioning

confidence: 76%

A Robust Multilevel Interconnect Module for Subquartermicrometer Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Technology Integration

Zhang¹,

Huang²,

Twiford³

et al. 2002

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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In this work, we present detailed studies of two integration schemes for an aluminum-wire/tungsten-plug-based multilevel ultralarge scale integration ͑ULSI͒ interconnect module for subquartermicrometer complementary metal oxide semiconductor ͑CMOS͒ technologies, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each of them primarily from a process integration point of view. We demonstrate that an etch stop ͑ES͒ integration scheme in which the via etch stops on the TiN cladding layer could result in significantly improved via electromigration performance compared to an over etch ͑OE͒ integration scheme in which the via is overetched into the underlying Al͑Cu͒. We also identified several highly detrimental early failure modes associated with the OE structure, including contamination-induced stress void formation underneath the via, the metal extrusion inside the via, and the metal corrosion at the bottom of the via, and showed that such early failure modes could be prevented in the ES integration scheme. Even though there were some small penalties in the device performance in the ES integration scheme, the benefits in the reliability and the better tolerance to manufacturing process variation clearly justify the adoption of this robust multilevel ULSI interconnect module for subquartermicrometer CMOS technologies.In the past three decades, the interconnect technologies of integrated circuits ͑ICs͒ have undergone considerable evolution. 1 Due to increasing device density and chip functionality, the interconnect technology based on multilevel aluminum metal wires and tungsten plugs has become the dominant back-end-of-line technology in the semiconductor industry. Even though for some high-performance ICs such as microprocessors, the interconnect technology has gradually moved from Al to Cu to reduce the back end resistance capacitance ͑RC͒ delays, 2-5 IC chips based on Al wires/W plugs still account for the majority of chips that are currently produced worldwide. 6 Because of the heavy capital investments that have been made in and the good understandings that have been achieved by the Al wire/W plug technologies, this interconnect technology is expected to remain as the mainstream technology for the foreseeable future.The modern planar multilevel very large scale integrated ͑VLSI͒ interconnect technology is enabled by several important technological developments such as chemical mechanical polishing ͑CMP͒, 7 reactively sputtered TiN, 8 and chemical vapor deposition ͑CVD͒ W plug processes. 9 The dielectric CMP process provides a planar surface for the deposition of the subsequent interconnect layer, which prevents the propagation of the underlying topographies and defects and allows the building of a large number of levels of interconnects. The TiN is used as the cladding layer of Al metal, which greatly enhanced the resistance of Al wires to electromigration and stress migration. The TiN is also used as the barrier and adhesion layer for CVD W. 10 The CVD W plug process allows the filling of vias or contact windows with ve...

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Section: Electrical Tests and Reliability Tests Results-mentioning

confidence: 76%

A Robust Multilevel Interconnect Module for Subquartermicrometer Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Technology Integration

Zhang¹,

Huang²,

Twiford³

et al. 2002

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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“…Simulations show little resistance increase until depletion extends past the end of the plug. 9,20 For the depletion within the conductor, the incubation represents the time required to establish a sufficient tensile stress at a point in the microstructure for void nucleation. The resistance increase in the steady-state region is due to the resistance of the shunting layer due to Al depletion outside the plug.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 For the two-level W-plug structure, it has been found that the lower metal level tends to fail predominantly. [6][7][8] Our previous work 9 showed that the vias with electron flow from metal 2 to metal 1 exhibited higher resistance increases than those with electron flow from metal 1 to metal 2. In this work, we investigated the failure time as a function of current density, and deduced the critical current density for metal 1 and metal 2.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetrical Critical Current Density and Its Influence on Electromigration of Two-Level W-Plug Interconnection

Huang¹,

Oates²,

Obeng³

et al. 2000

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Electromigration failure at contacts and vias is the potential limitation of interconnect reliability in multilevel structures. In twolevel structures, it has been found that the upper and lower metal levels exhibit different electromigration failure characteristics; the latter fails predominantly. In this work, we have systematically studied the critical current densities of the lower and upper level conductors terminated at W-plug vias. We found that the critical current density for the upper level is significantly higher. The effect of passivation layer on the critical current density is discussed.

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“…Titanium nitride, which structure is face-centered cubic, possesses high melting point, high hardness, low friction coefficient, high electrical and thermal conductivity and good chemical stability [1][2][3]. So TiN is widely used, such as the protective layer of mechanical parts, wear-resistant coating of cutting tools, corrosion-resisting coating of metals and diffusion barrier in semiconductor industry [4][5][6][7]. The conventional methods of synthesizing TiN include direct nitridation, carbothermal reduction nitridation of TiO2, selfpropagating high temperature synthesis, plasma method, reactive ball milling and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method [8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesis o f Ti2N Powders by Vacuum Slowly Vapor Deposition Using Urea as Nitrogen Source

Sun¹,

Yan²,

Hónɡ³

et al. 2016

Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Materials Chemistry and Environmental Protection (Meep-15)

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Hydrochloric acid solution of TiCl3 was synthesized by reacting of Ti powders and hydrochloric acid in highpressure reactor at 145℃. After vacuum drying TiCl3•6H2O crystalline were obtained. TiCl3•6H2O crystalline and urea, being as nitrogen source, were put into the vacuum slowly vapor deposition reactor. The heating temperature and holding time were 600℃ and 10 min separately. The deposited powders at different temperature were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show: Ti2N powders can be synthesized at the range of 450℃ to 600℃. The powders deposited at low temperature (＜ 80℃) were NH4Cl and the organics decomposed from urea.

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Effect of cracks in TiN anti-reflection coating layers on early via electromigration failure

Cited by 5 publications

References 15 publications

A Robust Multilevel Interconnect Module for Subquartermicrometer Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Technology Integration

A Robust Multilevel Interconnect Module for Subquartermicrometer Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Technology Integration

Asymmetrical Critical Current Density and Its Influence on Electromigration of Two-Level W-Plug Interconnection

Synthesis o f Ti2N Powders by Vacuum Slowly Vapor Deposition Using Urea as Nitrogen Source

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