| AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Plasma Science and Technology Division | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session PS+EM-WeA |
| Session: | Low-K Materials & Integration |
| Presenter: | Marc French, Intel Corporation |
| Authors: | M. French, Intel Corporation M. Jaehnig, Intel Corporation M. Kuhn, Intel Corporation J. Bielefeld, Intel Corporation S. King, Intel Corporation B. French, Intel Corporation |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Due to a low dielectric constant (4-4.5) and high density (1.8-2.0 g/cm3), Plasma Enhanced Chemically Vapor Deposited (PECVD) boron nitride (BN) is an intriguing material for use in low-k/Cu interconnect structures as a Cu diffusion barrier material. However, relatively little is known about the electrical leakage performance of BN in Cu interconnects or the Schottky barrier formed at the interface between these two materials. In this regard, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was utilized to determine the Schottky barrier formed at the interface between polished Cu substrates and PECVD BN thin films. Our measurements indicate a barrier height of 3.0± 0.2 eV for the BN/Cu interface. This barrier height is nearly 2X that determined for a-SiCN:H and a-SiOC:H Cu capping layers and is attributed to the significantly larger band gap of BN (> 5 eV).