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US 2014/0175656 A1Published application
Use of graphene to limit copper surface oxidation, diffusion and electromigration in interconnect structures
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsJohn A. Ott, Ageeth A. Bol
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A contiguous layer of graphene is formed on exposed sidewall surfaces and a topmost surface of a copper-containing structure that is present on a surface of a substrate. The presence of the contiguous layer of graphene on the copper-containing structure reduces copper oxidation and surface diffusion of copper ions and thus improves the electromigration resistance of the structure. These benefits can be obtained using graphene without increasing the resistance of copper-containing structure.
Claims16
An interconnect structure comprising:
- at least one copper-containing structure located on a surface of a substrate;
- and
- a contiguous layer of graphene comprising a first portion located on each exposed sidewall surface of said at least one copper-containing structure and a second portion located on a topmost surface of said at least one copper-containing structure, wherein a bottommost surface of said first portion of said contiguous layer of graphene is in contact with said surface of said substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.