Scaling laws for the resistivity increase of sub-100 nm interconnects

A physically based model is used to describe the resistivity increase of sub-100 nm copper interconnect structures. The main factors determining the increase are additional scattering of electrons at the surface as well as at the grain boundaries of the conductor. The model has been applied to several sets of experimental data. The parameters of the model, each of them with physical meaning, are appropriate to fit the model to the experimental data very well. A compact model for the surface contribution of the model has been derived capturing the essentials in a simple, analytical expression.