Effect of Microstructure of Substrate on the Metallization Characteristics of the Electroless Copper Deposition for ULSI Interconnection Effect of Plasma

Copper has attracted much attention in the deep submicron ULSI metallization process as a replacement for aluminum due to its lower resistivity and higher electromigration resistance. Electroless copper deposition method is appealing because it yields conformal, high quality copper at relatively low cost and a low processing temperature. In this work, it was investigated that effect of the microstructure of the substrate on the electroless deposition. The mechanism of the nucleation and growth of the palladium nuclei during palladium activation was proposed. Electroless copper deposition on TiN barriers using glyoxylic acid as a reducing agent was also investigated to replace toxic formaldehyde. Furthermore, electroless copper deposition on TaN$\sub$x/ barriers was examined at various nitrogen flow rate during TaN$\sub$x/ deposition. Finally, it was investigated that the effect of plasma treatment of as-deposited TaN$\sub$x/ harriers on the electroless copper deposition.