Quantitative measurement of the effect of annealing on the adhesion of thin copper films using superlayers
- Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
- Sandia National Labs., Livermore, CA (United States)
Nanoindentation at loads from 100 to 750 mN was used to measure the interfacial adhesion energy of sputtered copper thin-films, for which the release of elastic strain energy drives delamination. The as-sputtered films were of four thicknesses, nominally 225 nm, 400 nm, 600 nm and 1000 nm, and were deposited onto Si/SiO{sub 2} wafers; one wafer of each two-wafer run was annealed at 600 C for 2 hrs in a nitrogen atmosphere. Subsequently, a nominally 700 nm thick sputtered superlayer of tungsten was deposited over all wafers. The tungsten overlayer was used to promote delamination at the copper-SiO{sub 2} interface. The energies for fracture ranged from 1 to 80 J/m{sup 2}, increasing with increased indentation depth, and a trend of higher adhesion energy for annealed films. The large values of adhesion energy with respect to the thermodynamic work of adhesion are attributed primarily to plasticity and/or void nucleation within the copper film, which appears to be strongly influenced by the constraint of an overlayer.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-96ER45574; AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 305534
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-971201--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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