Abstract
Copper thin films with thickness of about 500 nm doped with different aluminum concentrations have been prepared by magnetron sputtering on Si substrate and their crystal structure, microstructure, and electrical resistivity after annealing at various temperatures (200°C to 600°C) for 1 h or at 400°C for different durations (1 h to 11 h) investigated by grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and four-point probe (FPP) measurements. Cu-1.8Al alloy thin film exhibited good thermal stability and low electrical resistivity (∼5.0 μΩ cm) after annealing at 500°C for 1 h or 400°C for 7 h. No copper silicide was observed at the Cu-Al/Si interface by GIXRD analysis or SEM for this sample. This result indicates that doping Cu thin film with small amounts of Al can achieve high thermal stability and low electrical resistivity, suggesting that Cu-1.8Al alloy thin film could be used for barrierless Cu metallization on Si substrate.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A. Ohsaki, Oyo Buturi 72, 1162 (2003).
C.H. Lin and W.K. Leau, J. Electron. Mater. 38, 2212 (2009).
S.M. Rossnagel and T.S. Kuan, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 22, 240 (2004).
C.H. Lin, H.Y. Chuang, and C.R. Kao, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 52, 01AC12 (2013).
J.P. Chu, C.H. Lin, and Y.Y. Hsieh, J. Electron. Mater. 35, 76 (2006).
C.H. Lin, J.P. Chu, T. Mahalingam, T.N. Lin, and S.F. Wang, J. Electron. Mater. 32, 1235 (2003).
H. Ono, T. Nakano, and T. Ohta, Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 1511 (1994).
Y.L. Kuo, J.J. Huang, S.T. Lin, C. Lee, and W.H. Lee, Mater. Chem. Phys. 80, 690 (2003).
Y. Meng, Z.X. Song, D. Qian, W.J. Dai, J.F. Wang, F. Ma, Y.H. Li, and K.W. Xu, J. Alloys Compd. 588, 461 (2014).
S. Tsukimoto, T. Onishi, K. Ito, M. Konno, T. Yaguchi, T. Kamino, and M. Murakami, J. Electron. Mater. 36, 1658 (2007).
X.J. Wang, X.P. Dong, and C.H. Jiang, Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China 20, 217 (2010).
S. Tsukimoto, T. Moriyama, K. Ito, and K. Murakami, J. Electron. Mater. 34, 592 (2005).
C.Y. Yand, S.J. Jeng, and J.S. Chen, Thin Solid Films 420, 398 (2002).
C.K. Hu and J.M.E. Harper, Mater. Chem. Phys. 52, 5 (1998).
H.C. Chung and C.P. Liu, Surf. Coat. Technol. 200, 3122 (2006).
J.C. Zhou, Y.Z. Li, and D.H. Huang, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 209, 774 (2009).
J.P. Chu and C.H. Lin, J. Electron. Mater. 35, 1933 (2006).
C.H. Lin, W.K. Leau, and C.H. Wu, Appl. Surf. Sci. 257, 553 (2010).
J.P. Chu, C.H. Lin, and V.S. John, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 132109 (2007).
S. Tsukimoto, T. Kabe, K. Ito, and M. Murakami, J. Electron. Mater. 36, 258 (2007).
J. Koike and M. Wada, Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 041911 (2005).
J.P. Chu, C.H. Lin, W.K. Leau, and V.S. John, J. Electron. Mater. 38, 100 (2009).
J.P. Chu and C.H. Lin, Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 211902 (2005).
M.Y. Kwak, D.H. Shin, T.W. Kang, and K.N. Kim, Thin Solid Films 339, 290 (1999).
J.P. Chu, Y.Y. Hsieh, C.H. Lin, and T. Mahalingam, J. Mater. Res. 20, 1379 (2005).
J.P. Gambino, 17th IEEE Int. Symp., pp. 1–7 (2010).
X.N. Li, J.X. Ding, M. Wang, J.P. Chu, and C. Dong, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 32, 061510 (2014).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51471138 and 51301146). Support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant Nos. 2012CB825700 and 2014DFA53040) and the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China (Grant No. 2016J01256) is also acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, C.P., Dai, T., Lu, Y. et al. Thermal Stability of Copper-Aluminum Alloy Thin Films for Barrierless Copper Metallization on Silicon Substrate. J. Electron. Mater. 46, 4891–4897 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5477-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5477-x