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Ultrathin amorphous Ti–Al film used as a diffusion barrier for copper metallization

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Abstract

The viability of ultrathin amorphous Ti–Al film (∼4 nm) as a diffusion barrier layer between Cu and Si for the application in Si-based ultra-large scale integration (ULSI) has been investigated. The Cu/Ti–Al/Si heterostructures are annealed in a high vacuum at various temperatures. There is no impurity peaks in the X-ray diffraction patterns for the samples up to annealing temperature of 800 ∘C, although the island-like grains were observed on the surface of the 800 ∘C annealed sample due to dewetting and agglomeration of the Cu film. No inter-reactions can be found from the images of transmission electron microscopy and Ti–Al is still amorphous after high-temperature annealing. These results indicate that Ti–Al film can effectively separate Cu from Si at high temperatures, and that the amorphous ultrathin Ti–Al film can be a very good barrier layer for Cu metallization.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NSFC (60876055, 11074063), the SRFDP (20091301110002), NSF of Hebei Province (E2011201092), the Key Basic Research Program of Hebei Provincial Applied Basic Research Plan (10963525D).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hebei Key Laboratory of Optic-electronic Information Materials, College of Physics Science & Technology, Hebei University, Hebei, 071002, China

    B. T. Liu, D. Y. Zhao, J. Z. Xing, L. Yang, X. G. Zhang, J. X. Guo & X. H. Li

  2. Department of Physics, Blinn College, Bryan, TX, 77805, USA

    L. X. Ma

  3. State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University, Hebei, 066004, China

    X. Y. Zhang

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  1. B. T. Liu
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  2. D. Y. Zhao
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Correspondence to B. T. Liu.

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Liu, B.T., Zhao, D.Y., Xing, J.Z. et al. Ultrathin amorphous Ti–Al film used as a diffusion barrier for copper metallization. Appl. Phys. A 111, 841–844 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-012-7292-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-012-7292-9

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