Copper Interconnect Technology

A textbook designed to accompany The Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers' short course on improving interconnect performance for increased speed in overall circuit performance authored by Steinbrnchel (materials science and engineering, Renselaer Polytechnic Institute) and Chin (senio

Since overall circuit performance has depended primarily on transistor properties, previous efforts to enhance circuit and system speed were focused on transistors as well. During the last decade, however, the parasitic resistance, capacitance, and inductance associated with interconnections began to influence circuit performance and will be the primary factors in the evolution of nanoscale ULSI technology. Because metallic conductivity and resistance to electromigration of bulk copper (Cu) are better than aluminum, use of copper and low-k materials is now prevalent in the international microelectronics industry. As the feature size of the Cu-lines forming interconnects is scaled, resistivity of the lines increases. At the same time electromigration and stress-induced voids due to increased current density become significant reliability issues. Although copper/low-k technology has become fairly mature, there is no single book available on the promise and challenges of these next-generation technologies. In this book, a leader in the field describes advanced laser systems with lower radiation wavelengths, photolithography materials, and mathematical modeling approaches to address the challenges of Cu-interconnect technology.

The papers included in this issue of ECS Transactions were originally presented in the symposium ¿Low k Inter-Level Metal Dielectrics and New Contact and Barrier Metallurgies/Structures¿, held during the PRiME 2008 joint international meeting of The Electrochemical Society and The Electrochemical Society of Japan, with the technical cosponsorship of the Japan Society of Applied Physics, the Korean Electrochemical Society, the Electrochemistry Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and the Chinese Society of Electrochemistry. This meeting was held in Honolulu, Hawaii, from October 12 to 17, 2008.

A complete guide to the state of the art and future direction of copper interconnect technology Owing to its performance advantages, copper metallization for IC interconnect is attracting tremendous interest in the semiconductor community worldwide. This timely book provides scientists and engineers with a much-needed, comprehensive reference on the fundamentals and applications of this emerging technology. The authors draw on more than a decade of intimate involvement with copper interconnect research, integrating the vast amounts of available knowledge and making clear the connection between mechanistic principles and relevant technologies. In-depth, cutting-edge discussions include: * The effects of copper in semiconductor materials, especially silicon * The fundamental chemistry and electro-chemistry of copper * The effects of copper on insulating materials such as glass and polymers * Intermetallic and interfacial reactions of copper in layered structures * Current and projected applications of copper in integrated circuits Copper-Fundamental Mechanisms for Microelectronic Applications also features extensive references, tables, and over 100 illustrations-including dual Damascene patterning necessary for copper interconnects. It is an excellent resource for anyone seeking to explore the current literature and gain insight into opportunities opening in the field.

In Advanced ULSI interconnects – fundamentals and applications we bring a comprehensive description of copper-based interconnect technology for ultra-lar- scale integration (ULSI) technology for integrated circuit (IC) application. In- grated circuit technology is the base for all modern electronics systems. You can ?nd electronics systems today everywhere: from toys and home appliances to a- planes and space shuttles. Electronics systems form the hardware that together with software are the bases of the modern information society. The rapid growth and vast exploitation of modern electronics system create a strong demand for new and improved electronic circuits as demonstrated by the amazing progress in the ?eld of ULSI technology. This progress is well described by the famous “Moore’s law” which states, in its most general form, that all the metrics that describe integrated circuit performance (e. g. , speed, number of devices, chip area) improve expon- tially as a function of time. For example, the number of components per chip d- bles every 18 months and the critical dimension on a chip has shrunk by 50% every 2 years on average in the last 30 years. This rapid growth in integrated circuits te- nology results in highly complex integrated circuits with an increasing number of interconnects on chips and between the chip and its package. The complexity of the interconnect network on chips involves an increasing number of metal lines per interconnect level, more interconnect levels, and at the same time a reduction in the interconnect line critical dimensions.

Ceramics were among the first materials used as substrates for mass-produced electronics, and they remain an important class of packaging and interconnect material today. Most available information about ceramic electronics is either outdated or focused on their materials science characteristics. The Ceramic Interconnect Technology Handbook goes beyond the traditional approach by first surveying the unique properties of ceramics and then discussing design, processing, fabrication, and integration, as well as packaging and interconnect technologies. Collecting contributions from an outstanding panel of experts, this book offers an up-to-date overview of modern ceramic electronics, from design and material selection to manufacturing and implementation. Beginning with an overview of the development, properties, advantages, and applications of ceramics, coverage spans electrical design, testing, simulation, thermomechanical design, screen printing, multilayer ceramics, photo-defined and photo-imaged films, copper interconnects for ceramic substrates, and integrated passive devices in ceramic substrates. It also offers a detailed review of the surface, thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties of various ceramics as well as the processing of high- and low-temperature cofired ceramic (HTCC and LTCC) substrates. Opening new vistas and avenues of advancement, the Ceramic Interconnect Technology Handbook is the only source for comprehensive discussion and analysis of nearly every facet of ceramic interconnect technology and applications.

This cutting-edge book on off-chip technologies puts the hottest breakthroughs in high-density compliant electrical interconnects, nanophotonics, and microfluidics at your fingertips, integrating the full range of mathematics, physics, and technology issues together in a single comprehensive source. You get full details on state-of-the-art I/O interconnects and packaging, including mechanically compliant I/O approaches, fabrication, and assembly, followed by the latest advances and applications in power delivery design, analysis, and modeling. The book explores interconnect structures, materials, and packages for achieving high-bandwidth off-chip electrical communication, including optical interconnects and chip-to-chip signaling approaches, and brings you up to speed on CMOS integrated optical devices, 3D integration, wafer stacking technology, and through-wafer interconnects.