Influence of Cu Seed Deposition Temperature on Electroplated Cu Texture Formation in Damascene Structures

The deposition temperature of the PVD Cu seed layer has a critical impact on the subsequent electroplated Cu film. Sheet resistance transformation of electroplated Cu on 50°C seeded Cu was more than twice faster than on 150°C seeded Cu. X-ray pole figure analysis on a 3 mm × 3 mm dense array of 0.35 μm Cu damascene lines at spacing of 0.4 μm revealed significant grain orientation differences between directions parallel and perpendicular to the Cu lines. It was observed that for both seed process temperatures, the (II I) pole figures showed a sharper texture parallel to the trench direction than to the perpendicular direction. After annealing at 450°C for 30 minutes, a (511) secondary orientation emerged and the (111) texture along the trench direction became even sharper. Perpendicular to the trench, the (111) texture split into two peaks after anneal, exhibiting near fiber texture. The deviation of the two splits from normal was 2.40 tilt towards the trench wall indicating strong interaction between trench sidewall and electrodeposited Cu inside the trench. The (111) pole figure analysis also revealed a 20% contribution of Cu growth directly from the side walls. Although the pole figure pattern of 150°C seeded sample resembles that of the 50°C seeded sample, the (111) fiber texture of a 50°C seeded sample was always stronger and sharper.