Improvement in Leakage Current and Breakdown Field of Cu-Comb Capacitor Using a Silicon Oxycarbide Dielectric Barrier

Abstract

This work investigates in the first place, the improvement in leakage current and breakdown field of the copper metal-insulatorsemiconductor ͑Cu-MIS͒ capacitor with a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited ͑PECVD͒ amorphous silicon oxycarbide ͑␣-SiCO, k ϭ 3.7) dielectric barrier. This is followed by investigating the improvement in leakage current and breakdown field of the Cu-comb capacitor with a carbon-doped low-k PECVD organosilicate glass (k ϭ 3) as the intermetal dielectric and an ␣-SiCO dielectric film as the Cu cap barrier. The leakage current and breakdown field of Cu-MIS and Cu-comb capacitors are dependent on the species of the dielectric barrier. The Cu-MIS and Cu-comb capacitors with an ␣-SiCO dielectric barrier exhibit a leakage current at least three orders of magnitude smaller than those with an amorphous silicon carbide ͑␣-SiC, k ϭ 4.4) dielectric barrier at an applied electric field of 1.6 MV/cm between 25 and 250°C. Moreover, the breakdown field of the Cu-MIS and Cu-comb capacitors with an ␣-SiCO dielectric barrier, measured at 200°C, are 60 and 25%, respectively, higher than that of the capacitors with an ␣-SiC barrier. The decreased leakage current and increased breakdown field of the Cu-MIS and Cu-comb capacitors with an ␣-SiCO dielectric barrier are attributed to the higher density, oxygen-improved film property, nonsemiconductor behavior, and lower fringe-or surface-electric field of the ␣-SiCO dielectric film.

Characterization of a-SiCx:H thin films as an encapsulation material for integrated silicon based neural interface devices

“…The strong Si-C chemical bonds are responsible for inert characteristics of SiC [11]. a-SiC x :H has low dielectric constant (4.4-4.9) and low moisture intake [12,13], thereby satisfies two conditions needed for a device encapsulation layer. Due to the controllable electrical and optical properties, a-SiC x :H has been investigated intensely in the fields of optoelectronics [14,15], solar cell technology [16], and surface passivation [17,18].…”

Detection of surface electronic defect states in low and high-k dielectrics using reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy

“…5,6 Although the implementation of both low and high-k dielectric materials by the industry has enabled impressive gains in device performance and the continuation of Moore's law, 7,8 the electrical properties of these low and high-k materials are reduced relative to SiO 2 , and there are significant electrical reliability concerns [9][10][11] as the industry seeks to continue to implement these materials in future ,15 nm and beyond technologies. 12,13 Specific electrical reliability concerns for low-and high-k dielectrics include line-line interconnect 14,15 and gate dielectric leakage, 16,17 dielectric breakdown (V bd ), [18][19][20] time-dependent dielectric breakdown, [21][22][23][24] stress-induced leakage currents, 25,26 bias temperature instabilities, 27,28 charge trapping, [29][30][31][32] and a host of other charge-related buildup phenomena. 33,34 Despite the wide range of reliability concerns, a key ingredient in the models for all of these phenomena is some type of "defect" or "trap" in the dielectric material.…”

Effects of He (90%)/H2 (10%) plasma treatment on electric properties of low dielectric constant SiCOH films

“…These are then available to react with oxygen to generate Si-O-Si structures [11]. It is thought that high contents of Si-O bond that has high thermochemical energy [10] in the low-k SiCOH films can contribute to decrease of leakage current pass. Furthermore, the H 2 plasma treatment can provide hydrogen radicals to passivate the surface and bulk of porous films and reduce the defect content [6], which can help reducing leakage current.…”

“…On the other hand, depending on the various gases (e.g. ammonia, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, helium, and mixture gases) and plasma conditions, plasma treatment could be used to improve electric and mechanical properties of the low-k SiCOH film [6,10]. It is needed to develop a post-deposition plasma treatment method, which can be easily In microelectronics industry, integration of the low dielectric constant (low-k) material films is a continuing issue due to the decreasing device feature size.…”