In this work, copper bimetallic corrosion and inhibition in ultra large scale interconnect fabrication process is explored. Corrosion behavior of physical vapor deposited (PVD) copper on ruthenium on acidic and alkaline solutions was investigated with and without organic inhibitors. Bimetallic corrosion screening experiments were carried out to determine the corrosion rate. Potentiodynamic polarization experiments yielded information on the galvanic couples and also corrosion rates. XPS and FTIR surface analysis gave important information pertaining inhibition mechanism of organic inhibitors. Interestingly copper in contact with ruthenium in cleaning solution led to increased corrosion rate compared to copper in contact with tantalum. On the other hand when cobalt was in contact with copper, cobalt corroded and copper did not. We ascribe this phenomenon to the difference in the standard reduction potentials of the two metals in contact and in such a case a less noble metal will be corroded. The effects of plasma etch gases such as CF4, CF4+O2, C4F8, CH2F2 and SF6 on copper bimetallic corrosion was investigated too in alkaline solution. It was revealed that the type of etching gas plasma chemistry used in Cu interconnect manufacturing process creates copper surface modification which affects corrosion behavior in alkaline solution. The learning from copper bimetallic corrosion studies will be useful in the development of etch and clean formulations that will results in minimum defects and therefore increase the yield and reliability of copper interconnects.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc499992 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Koskey, Simon Kibet |
| Contributors | Chyan, Oliver Ming-Ren, Youngblood, W. Justin, Petros, Robby A., Acree, William E. (William Eugene) |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | x, 113 : illustrations (chiefly color), Text |
| Rights | Public, Koskey, Simon Kibet, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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