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    Electronics Friday Sessions
       Session EL-FrM

Paper EL-FrM5
Interfaces in Copper Nanoconnections

Friday, November 2, 2001, 9:40 am, Room 124

Session: ULSI Metallization & Interconnects
Presenter: E. Ristolainen, Tampere University of Technology, Finland
Authors: P. Heino, Tampere University of Technology, Finland
E. Ristolainen, Tampere University of Technology, Finland
Correspondent: Click to Email
Miniaturization of electronic devices leads to nanoscale structures in the near future. Mechanics of these nanostructures and their connections are not well understood, since the surfaces and interfaces play a major role at nanoscale. As the metallization and interconnect material copper seems to be the technological choice, mainly due to its low electrical resistance. In copper metallization, a barrier layer between copper and the rest of the system is needed to prevent diffusion and to have enough adhesion. In such disordered systems, the interfaces are often the weakest spots. To conclusion, the interfaces are the most important parts to study. Tantalum seems to be one of the most common barrier metals, and two different interfaces are formed in the Cu­Ta­Si system. We use molecular dynamics with embedded-atom or modified embedded-atom potentials as means. At the Cu­Ta interface, a strong positive correlation is found between energy and strength indicating those low-energy interfaces is weak. More details of the results from the Ta­Si system will be discussed at the conference.