Impact of Cu barrier dielectrics upon stress-induced voiding of dual-damascene copper interconnects

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the stress-induced voiding (SIV) in dual-damascene Cu interconnects. To relax the Cu stress and its gradient, we focused on the Cu barrier dielectrics. The SIV of Cu interconnects was successfully suppressed by using SiC film as a Cu barrier dielectric. The finite element method (FEM) and the molecular dynamics (MD) analysis revealed the stress distribution and its effects on the void growth.