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Microtexture and Strain in Electroplated Copper Interconnects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

R. Spolenak
Affiliation:
Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ
D. L. Barr
Affiliation:
Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ
M. E. Gross
Affiliation:
Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ
K. Evans-Lutterodt
Affiliation:
Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ
W. L. Brown
Affiliation:
Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ
N. Tamura
Affiliation:
Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., Berkeley, CA
A. A. Macdowell
Affiliation:
Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., Berkeley, CA
R. S. Celestre
Affiliation:
Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., Berkeley, CA
H. A. Padmore
Affiliation:
Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., Berkeley, CA
B. C. Valek
Affiliation:
Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
J. C. Bravman
Affiliation:
Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
P. Flinn
Affiliation:
Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
T. Marieb
Affiliation:
Intel Corporation, Portland, OR
R. R. Keller
Affiliation:
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Materials Reliability Division, Boulder, CO
B. W. Batterman
Affiliation:
Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., Berkeley, CA SSRL/SLAC, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
J. R. Patel
Affiliation:
Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., Berkeley, CA SSRL/SLAC, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
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Abstract

The microstructure of narrow metal conductors in the electrical interconnections on IC chips has often been identified as of major importance in the reliability of these devices. The stresses and stress gradients that develop in the conductors as a result of thermal expansion differences in the materials and of electromigration at high current densities are believed to be strongly dependent on the details of the grain structure. The present work discusses new techniques based on microbeam x-ray diffraction (MBXRD) that have enabled measurement not only of the microstructure of totally encapsulated conductors but also of the local stresses in them on a micron and submicron scale. White x-rays from the Advanced Light Source were focused to a micron spot size by Kirkpatrick-Baez mirrors. The sample was stepped under the micro-beam and Laue images obtained at each sample location using a CCD area detector. Microstructure and local strain were deduced from these images. Cu lines with widths ranging from 0.8 [.proportional]m to 5 [.proportional]m and thickness of 1 [.proportional]m were investigated. Comparisons are made between the capabilities of MBXRD and the well established techniques of broad beam XRD, electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD) and focused ion beam imagining (FIB).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

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