Work

Control of Cu morphology on TaN barrier and combined Ru-TaN barrier/liner substrates for nanoscale interconnects from atomistic kinetic Monte Carlo simulations

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: 3D morphology and film quality by analyzing film roughness, island size, substrate exposure, layer occupation rate, film compactness and the effect of annealing. Our results show that Ru-modified TaN with 50% Ru incorporation significantly reduces roughness and islanding, promoting the desired 2D growth. Vacuum annealing further promotes smooth Cu films, eliminating vacancy defects on Ru-modified substrates, while TaN promotes further island formation. This demonstrates the potential of Ru-TaN in optimizing Cu deposition for advanced CMOS interconnects and showcases a new, robust approach for atomistic simulation of metal deposition on a range of substrates.

Source: Nanoscale

DOI: 10.1039/d4nr04505j

Authors: Samuel Aldana, Cara-Lena Nies, Michael Nolan

Institutions: University College Cork, Tyndall National Institute

Language: English

Topic: Copper Interconnects and Reliability

Subfield: Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid