Advanced Micro Devices Corporation

Globalfoundries Inc.

Moritz-Andreas Meyer

Eckhard Langer

Matthias Lehr

Ehrenfried Zschech

Peter Huebler

Hans-Juergen Engelmann

Inka Zienert

Hartmut Prinz

By introducing a metallic species into an exposed surface area of a copper region, the electromigration behavior of this surface area may be significantly enhanced. The incorporation of the metallic species may be accomplished in a highly selective manner so as to not unduly affect dielectric material positioned adjacent to the metal region, thereby essentially avoiding undue increase of leakage currents.

Method of forming an alloy in an interconnect structure to increase electromigration resistance

An alloy forming dopant material is deposited prior to the formation of a copper line, for instance by incorporating the dopant material into the barrier layer, which is then driven into the vicinity of a weak interface by means of a heat treatment. As indicated by corresponding investigations, the dopant material is substantially transported to the weak interface through grain boundary regions rather than through the bulk copper material (copper grains), thereby enabling moderately high alloy concentrations in the vicinity of the interface while maintaining a relatively low overall concentration within the grains. The alloy at the interface reduces electromigration along the interface.

Technique for forming embedded metal lines having increased resistance against stress-induced material transport

By performing x-ray analysis of stacked metallization layers on the basis of data reduction, the crystalline structure of individual metallization layers may be determined. Consequently, a relationship between electromigration and crystallinity, as well as a correlation between process parameters and materials and the finally obtained crystalline structures of metal lines, may be estimated in a highly efficient manner compared to measurement techniques based on charged particles.

System and method for estimating the crystallinity of stacked metal lines in microstructures

The present invention provides a technique for estimating critical dimensions of highly scaled circuit features on the basis of scanning electron microscopy, wherein area fractions of a scan area are determined. Preferably, the SEM is operated with high electron beam energies to enhance the overall resolution and to reduce edge effects and image artifacts. Thus, fast and statistically significant measurement results may be obtained, thereby allowing enhanced process control.

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Dresden, Germany

Moritz-Andreas Meyer