Scalable alloy-based sputtering of high-conductivity PdCoO2 for advanced interconnects

As integrated circuits continue to scale down, the search for alternative metals is becoming increasingly important due to the rising resistivity of traditional copper-based interconnects. A layered oxide PdCoO2 is one of the candidate materials for interconnects, having bulk ab-plane conductivity exceeding that of elemental Al. Despite its potential, wafer-scale vacuum deposition of PdCoO2, crucial for interconnect applications, has not yet been reported. In this study, we demonstrate the scalable growth of c-axis oriented PdCoO2 thin films via reactive sputtering from Pd-Co alloy targets. Our method paves the way to harness the unique properties of PdCoO2 in semiconductor devices.