Encapsulated silver for integrated circuit metallization

Silver has all the properties to complement copper for multilayer metallization in integrated circuit technology. The obvious drawbacks to Ag in terms of agglomeration and corrosion are overcome by use of encapsulation layers. The objective of this issue is to provide readers with a survey of some active areas in Ag-based metallization for interconnects ULSI applications. This work reflects the current research progress in this field from several different perspectives and provides advanced metallization solutions for future integrated circuit manufacturing.