Modeling and Measurement of Stress and Strain Evolution in Cu Interconnects
- Technology Development Group of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc, 1 AMD Place, Sunnyvale, CA 94088-3453 (United States)
The damascene fabrication method and the introduction of low-K dielectrics present a host of reliability challenges to Cu interconnects and fundamentally change the mechanical stress state of Cu lines used as interconnects for integrated circuits. In order to capture the effect of individual process steps on the stress evolution in the BEoL (Back End of Line), a process-oriented finite element modeling (FEM) approach was developed. In this model, the complete stress history at any step of BEoL can be simulated as a dual damascene Cu structure is fabricated. The model was calibrated with both wafer-curvature blanket film measurements and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) measurement of metal line stress. The Cu line stress evolution was simulated during the process of multi-step processing for dual damascene Cu/TEOS and Cu/low-k structures. The in-plane stress of Cu lines is nearly independent of subsequent processes, while the out-of-plane stress increases considerably with the subsequent process steps. The modeling results will be compared with recent XRD measurements and extended generically to illustrate the relative influence of the dielectric (ILD) modulus (E) and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) on strain/stress in the Cu lines. It will be shown that the stress magnitude and state (hydrostatic, deviatoric) depend on ILD properties. The stress along the line length (longitudinal) is substrate-dominated, while the transverse and normal stresses vary with both CTE and modulus of the dielectric. The hydrostatic stress is primarily determined by ILD modulus and is nearly independent of the ILD CTE, while the Von Mises stress depends on both CTE and E of the ILD. The stress of the Cu line tends to be more deviatoric with spin-on low K ILDs, and more hydrostatic with oxide encapsulation.
- OSTI ID:
- 20630476
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 741; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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