Water and Copper Contamination in SiOC:H Damascene: Novel Characterization Methodology based on Triangular Voltage Sweep Measurements

• Published in: 2006 International Interconnect Technology Conference pp. 181 - 183
• Main Authors: Ciofi, I., Tokei, Z., Visalli, D., Van Hove, M.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2006
• Subjects: Contamination; Copper; Degradation; Dielectric materials; Dielectric measurements; Moisture; Pollution measurement; Testing; Voltage measurement; Water pollution
• ISBN: 1424401046; 9781424401048
• ISSN: 2380-632X; 2380-6338
• DOI: 10.1109/IITC.2006.1648682

We evaluated the triangular voltage sweep (TVS) method as a new technique to address the degradation mechanisms that occur in Cu/low-k interconnects. TVS measurements were performed on dedicated samples in order to systematically investigate the effects of water and Cu. We were able to resolve distinctive features characteristic of water and Cu. We demonstrate for the first time that the TVS methodology can successfully be applied to detect both water and Cu in sub-100 nm advanced Cu interconnects