Evolution Mechanism of Copper Grains in Advanced Interconnect Processes
In dual-damascene interconnect applications, the decreasing copper concentration and lower current/voltage in electrochemical plating pose challenges to Cu grain evolution. This paper investigates Cu grain growth in low-Cu plating solutions using two types of seed layers. Results show that larger original grains in CuMn seed layers lead to separation from the electroplated layer. During self-annealing, grains evolve vertically from the bottom upward due to seed stress, and horizontally from the wafer center outward under grain boundary forces. Moreover, precise control of current density can effectively optimize the growth behavior of Cu grains, thereby improving device performance.
Authors
- Simian Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1361-1074)
- Chen Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1698-8992)
- Han Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2016-4179)
- Yinuo Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4264-464X)
- Changqing Zhu
- Linbo Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0342-8056)
- Yu Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4438-9532)
- Qixing Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3051-4372)
- Yu Rong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0236-4030)
- Liang Du
Institutions
- Semiconductor Manufacturing International (China) (CN)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-03-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1109/cstic64481.2025.11017793
- Primary Topic
- Copper Interconnects and Reliability
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Tsinghua University
- Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission