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Grain growth and void formation in dielectric-encapsulated Cu thin films

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Abstract

Grain growth in 40-nm-thick Cu films encapsulated by over- and under-layers of SiO2, Al2O3, Si3N4, and MgO was investigated. The films were magnetron sputter deposited onto cooled SiO2/Si substrates in an ultrahigh vacuum purity environment. Ex situ annealing was performed at 400 and 800 °C in 1 atm reducing gas. Films deposited at −120 °C exhibited more extensive grain growth after annealing than films deposited at −40 °C. Films annealed at room temperature had grain sizes less than 35 nm. All films exhibited some void formation after annealing at 400 and 800 °C, but the films encapsulated in Al2O3 exhibited the lowest area fraction of voids. The mean grain sizes of the Al2O3-encapsulated films, as measured by the linear intercept method, were 86 and 134 nm after annealing at 400 and 800 °C, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully recognize the support of the Semiconductor Research Corporation, Task 1292.008. K. Barmak and V. Kumar also acknowledge partial support from the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) under National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Materials Research Grant No. DMR-0520425.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 32826, USA

    B. Yao, T. Sun & K.R. Coffey

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, USA

    V. Kumar & K. Barmak

Authors
  1. B. Yao
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  2. T. Sun
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  3. V. Kumar
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  4. K. Barmak
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  5. K.R. Coffey
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Correspondence to T. Sun.

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Yao, B., Sun, T., Kumar, V. et al. Grain growth and void formation in dielectric-encapsulated Cu thin films. Journal of Materials Research 23, 2033–2039 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2008.0254

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2008.0254

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