Electrical performance, reliability and microstructure of sub-45 nm copper damascene lines fabricated with TEOS backfill

The fabrication of narrow Cu trenches using a conformal TEOS backfill approach is shown. Cu trenches with widths down to 30-40 nm were achieved. With an adequate Ta-based PVD barrier and Cu seed layer scheme, narrow Cu lines with high yield were obtained. An increase of the electrical resistivity in the narrowest dimensions was observed as a result of the size effect. Electromigration assessment demonstrated that a bilayer TaN/Ta barrier outperforms the monolayer Ta barrier. Electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) analysis was carried out to determine grain orientation and texture in narrow copper trenches. For the first time, EBSD data reveal that Cu trenches down to 30-40 nm wide have mostly a random texture. The narrower the Cu lines get, the weaker the (1 1 1) texture with both monolayer and bilayer Ta-based barriers.