Molecular dynamics analysis of reflow process of sputtered aluminum films

Saito, Yoko; Hirasawa, Shigeki; Saito, Tatsuya; Nezu, H.; Yamaguchi, H.; Owada, N.

doi:10.1109/66.554498

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Accordingly, several numerical methods have been developed as aids to understanding the growth mechanisms of deposited films, including continuumbased methods such as the shock tracking algorithm, 5,10 finite element methods, 11 and particle-based methods, e.g., the Monte Carlo method 12,13 and molecular dynamics ͑MD͒ simulation. Furthermore, the requirement to speed up the deposition process development 15 16 in which the reflow process for sputtered aluminum films was analyzed. 14 The superiority of the MD approach becomes apparent as the characteristic size of the system decreases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular dynamics simulation of sputter trench-filling morphology in damascene process

Weng

Chang

et al. 2002

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena

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This article presents the use of molecular dynamics ͑MD͒ simulation to investigate the influence of process parameters on sputter trench-filling morphologies in the damascene process. We focus not only upon the mechanisms of trench-filling formation, but also upon the coverage percentage at various transient states during the deposition process. The MD simulation includes a three-dimensional trench model and a deposition model, and uses the many-body, tight-binding potential method to represent the interatomic force acting between atoms. The results of the study indicate that an ideal trench-filling morphology, i.e., one in which the trench is completely filled, with no trapped voids, is most likely to occur as the incident energy of the deposited atom increases, and for higher substrate temperatures. It is found that the principal influence of an increased incident energy is to improve the migration ability of deposited atoms, particularly along the two sidewalls of the trench. This is beneficial since it alleviates the self-shadowing effect, thereby improving coverage of the trench bottom by deposited atoms, particularly in the corners. An increased substrate temperature is influential in improving the fluidity of the atoms deposited within the trench. This promotes the filling of the voids which tend to form at the intermediate stage of the deposition process. Finally, it is found that of the two process parameters investigated in this study, the filling pattern of the trench is most strongly influenced by the incident energy of the deposited atoms.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular dynamics simulation of sputter trench-filling morphology in damascene process

Weng

Chang

et al. 2002

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena

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“…Although it is well known that molecular dynamics ͑MD͒ simulation is an ideal technique for investigating the microscopic transport properties of current nanoscale devices and of those anticipated in the future, very few MD simulation investigations of the annealing process can be found in the available literature. However, Saito et al 13 did use MD simulation to analyze the reflow process, which is very similar to the annealing process. Their simulation concerned the relationship between the flow state of an aluminum ͑Al͒ film along a trench wall and the temperature of that film.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microstructure evolution analysis in Co/Cu layers during the annealing process

Hwang

Chang

et al. 2003

Journal of Applied Physics

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By means of molecular dynamics simulation, this article investigates the annealing process of a Co/Cu two-layer structure used for giant magnetoresistance applications. The many-body, tight-binding potential method is used to model the interatomic force which acts between the atoms, and the Langevin technique is incorporated into the motion equation such that the thermal control layer is maintained at a constant equilibrium temperature. The issues considered within this article include the annealing Cu surface roughness and Co/Cu interfacial roughness, the annealing morphology, the annealing microstructure, a comparison of Co and Cu migration abilities, and the extent of Co and Cu interdiffusion. The results of the present study indicate that the annealing temperature required to cause Co atom migration is greater than that which is required for Cu atoms. Consequently, once the annealing temperature exceeds a certain threshold value, a significant change in the Cu surface roughness will be observed before there is any obvious change in the Co/Cu interfacial roughness. It is also noted that the Cu film microstructure adopts a disordered state earlier in the annealing process when the annealing temperature is higher. Finally, it is determined that Co/Cu interdiffusion occurs at elevated annealing temperatures. The degree of interdiffusion becomes more pronounced as the annealing temperature increases, and in extreme cases, it is observed that Co atoms may diffuse to such an extent that they even appear on the Cu film surface.

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“…Although MD simu-lation of the damascene trench filling process provides a valuable understanding of the detailed mechanisms which occur at the evolution interface, a literature review reveals a comparative lack of related research. 5,6 Furthermore, a valid criticism of the available material is that the geometric dimensions of the simulation trench models are far smaller than those actually used in practice, e.g., some former research studies adopted a 2 nm model whereas the actual characteristic length is closer to 130 nm. The precise quantitative influence of model size on the simulation results has never been fully determined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Damascene process simulation using molecular dynamics

Weng

Hwang

2002

Journal of Applied Physics

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This article uses a molecular dynamics parallel computing technique to investigate trench filling in the damascene process. The qualitative behavior of the trench filling process for different incident energies and substrate temperatures is described in terms of the filling morphology and the filling characteristics. The significance of the geometric size of the simulation model is evaluated by comparing the coverage percentage results obtained from the current large model with the results presented previously for a small model. Similar filling characteristics are identified for both simulation models. This indicates that the qualitative behavior is independent of the model size. However, a quantitative comparison shows that when the incident energy is small, or when the substrate temperature is high, the geometric dimensions of the model become significant. Finally, the results demonstrate that the nature of the relationship between coverage percentage improvement and incident energy is dependent on the model size.

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Molecular dynamics analysis of reflow process of sputtered aluminum films

Cited by 8 publications

References 4 publications

Molecular dynamics simulation of sputter trench-filling morphology in damascene process

Molecular dynamics simulation of sputter trench-filling morphology in damascene process

Microstructure evolution analysis in Co/Cu layers during the annealing process

Damascene process simulation using molecular dynamics

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