Challenges of Ultra low-k integration in BEOL interconnect for 45nm and beyond

Author

Liu, H. ; Widodo, J. ; Liew, S.L. ; Wang, Z.H. ; Wang, Y.H. ; Lin, B.F. ; Wu, L.Z. ; Seet, C.S. ; Lu, W. ; Low, C.H. ; Liu, W.P. ; Zhou, M.S. ; Hsia, L.C.

Author_Institution

Chartered Semicond. Manuf. Ltd., Singapore

fYear

2009

fDate

1-3 June 2009

Firstpage

258

Lastpage

260

Abstract

This paper presents some major integration challenges in Ultra low-k (ULK) Back-End-Of-Line (BEOL) interconnects for 45 nm and beyond. The discussions mainly address the challenges that arise from ultra violet (UV) curing that cause changes in the composition of Nitrogen doped Silicon Carbide (SiCN), poor mechanical strength of ULK, Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) and barrier deposition plasma induced damage at the sidewall and the bottom of the trench, and gap-fill limitation of the copper (Cu) process. The physical characterization and Resistance-Capacitance (RC) results of the ULK integration are also presented.

Keywords

curing; integrated circuit interconnections; low-k dielectric thin films; silicon compounds; sputter etching; wide band gap semiconductors; BEOL interconnect; SiCN; back-end-of-line interconnects; barrier deposition plasma; gap-fill limitation; nitrogen doped silicon carbide; reactive ion etching; resistance-capacitance; size 45 nm; ultra low-k integration; ultra violet curing; Bonding; Chemicals; Copper; Curing; Dielectric constant; Etching; Nitrogen; Plasma applications; Plasma materials processing; Silicon carbide;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Interconnect Technology Conference, 2009. IITC 2009. IEEE International

Conference_Location

Sapporo, Hokkaido

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-4492-2

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-4493-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IITC.2009.5090403

Filename

5090403