TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of annealing temperature on electrical and reliability characteristics of HfO2/porous low-k dielectric stacks
AU - Cheng, Yi Lung
AU - Kao, Kai Chieh
AU - Chen, Giin Shan
AU - Fang, Jau Shiung
AU - Sun, Chung Ren
AU - Lee, Wen Hsi
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the National Science Council of the Republic of China, Taiwan , for financially supporting this research under Contrast No. MOST-104-2221-E-260-003-MY2 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/8/16
Y1 - 2016/8/16
N2 - Atomic layer deposited thin HfO2 film has been demonstrated to act as a pore-sealing layer and a Cu diffusion barrier layer used in porous low-k dielectrics. This study investigates the effect of annealing temperature on the electrical characteristics and reliability of the dielectric stacks with HfO2 and porous low-k films. The experimental results reveal that annealing improved electrical performance and reliability, but increased the dielectric constant. However, the resulting dielectric constant of the annealed HfO2/porous low-k dielectric stacks following oxygen plasma treatment was still lower than that of the dielectric stacks without annealing, indicating that annealing improved the properties of HfO2/porous low-k dielectric stacks. Annealing at 400 °C improved electrical characteristics, reliability, and Cu barrier performance more than did annealing at 600 °C because at 600 °C annealing, the grain boundaries of the crystallized HfO2 film provide a conduction path and cause the breakage of the porous low-k film. However, the HfO2/porous low-k dielectric stacks that were annealed at 600 °C exhibited greater resistance against damage by oxygen plasma.
AB - Atomic layer deposited thin HfO2 film has been demonstrated to act as a pore-sealing layer and a Cu diffusion barrier layer used in porous low-k dielectrics. This study investigates the effect of annealing temperature on the electrical characteristics and reliability of the dielectric stacks with HfO2 and porous low-k films. The experimental results reveal that annealing improved electrical performance and reliability, but increased the dielectric constant. However, the resulting dielectric constant of the annealed HfO2/porous low-k dielectric stacks following oxygen plasma treatment was still lower than that of the dielectric stacks without annealing, indicating that annealing improved the properties of HfO2/porous low-k dielectric stacks. Annealing at 400 °C improved electrical characteristics, reliability, and Cu barrier performance more than did annealing at 600 °C because at 600 °C annealing, the grain boundaries of the crystallized HfO2 film provide a conduction path and cause the breakage of the porous low-k film. However, the HfO2/porous low-k dielectric stacks that were annealed at 600 °C exhibited greater resistance against damage by oxygen plasma.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.mee.2016.04.013
DO - 10.1016/j.mee.2016.04.013
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84966350712
SN - 0167-9317
VL - 162
SP - 34
EP - 39
JO - Microelectronic Engineering
JF - Microelectronic Engineering
ER -