The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 30, 2000
Filed:
Jul. 30, 1998
Abstract
An improved method for forming diffusion barrier layers for sub-micron connects in integrated circuits is disclosed. The dual diffusion barriers is easily formed according to two-step annealing processes. The anneal includes two anneal cycles or steps, each cycle is performed at a separate and distinct temperature cycles. Each cycle is performed in the presence of ammonia (NH3) or nitrogen ambient. As a result of the first low-temperature cycle, a nitridation occurs at the upper surface to form a binary diffusion barrier layer. As a result of the second high-temperature cycle, an out-diffusion of silicon ions occurs at the lower surface to form a ternary alloys. The dual diffusion barriers obtained by a simple and easy two-step anneal processing exhibits an improved barrier performance. Furthermore, it is possible to form highly stable multilevel interconnections without any deterioration problems by reducing the sophisticated processing steps.