An amorphous Ti‐Si‐N diffusion barrier layer for cu interconnections

This paper discusses the amorphous Ti-Si-N diffusion barrier layer without crystalline grain boundaries. The Ti-Si-N layers were sputter-deposited in Ar-N2 mixture gas using TiSi and TiSi2 targets. In particular, films with a composition of Ti: Si: N = 1: 1: 1.4 were evaluated. It was confirmed that the films were amorphous and thermally stable. The stress of the films was low and compressive, where it was 0.28 GPa. The junction leakage current measurement indicated that the barrier characteristic was effective at 600°C. Therefore, it was concluded that the amorphous Ti-Si-N layer could be used as a barrier for Cu interconnections.