Abstract
We present results of modeling and simulation of sputter-deposited thin films used for barrier and seed layers for the metalization stage of integrated circuits. We employ a continuum model in conjunction with the level set method for simulating the motion of the interface. An important physical input in our code is the angular distribution of the arriving material flux. For this we can incorporate empirical data for target erosion as well as the effects of gas scattering during transport in the low pressure sputter chamber. The chamber dimensions are of the same order of magnitude as the mean free path of sputtered atoms and the vapor transport is simulated in a pre-processing Monte Carlo module. First, we compare results for different angular distributions with experimental data for titanium. Second, we report on variations in step coverage across the wafer. Third, we report on validation with experiment for long-throw deposition of tantalum. Finally, we report preliminary work on simulating columnar growth.
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O’Sullivan, P.L. et al. (2004). Feature-Scale to Wafer-Scale Modeling and Simulation of Physical Vapor Deposition. In: Abdallah, N.B., et al. Dispersive Transport Equations and Multiscale Models. The IMA Volumes in Mathematics and its Applications, vol 136. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8935-2_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8935-2_14
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