Anneal of ruthenium seed layer to improve copper plating
AssigneeNovellus Systems, Inc.
InventorsEric G. Webb, Jonathan D. Reid, Seyang Park, Johanes H. Sukamto
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Abstract
A ruthenium-containing thin film is formed. Typically, the ruthenium-containing thin film has a thickness in a range of about from 1 nm to 20 nm. The ruthenium-containing thin film is annealed in an oxygen-free atmosphere, for example, in N2 forming gas, at a temperature in a range of about from 100° C. to 500° C. for a total time duration of about from 10 seconds to 1000 seconds. Thereafter, copper or other metal is deposited by electroplating or electroless plating onto the annealed ruthenium-containing thin film. In some embodiments, the ruthenium-containing thin film is also treated by UV radiation.
Claims43
A method of treating a ruthenium-containing thin film during integrated circuit fabrication, comprising processes of:
- providing a ruthenium-containing thin film located on a substrate, said ruthenium-containing thin film having a thickness in a range of about from 1 nm to 20 nm;
- and
- annealing said ruthenium-containing thin film in an oxygen-free environment under oxide-reducing conditions to form a substantially oxide-free annealed ruthenium-containing thin film.
A method of forming a ruthenium-containing thin film, comprising processes of:
- depositing a ruthenium-containing thin film to a thickness in a range of about 1 nm to 20 nm on a substrate;
- and
- annealing said ruthenium-containing thin film in an oxygen-free environment under oxide-reducing conditions to form a substantially oxide-free annealed ruthenium-containing thin film.
A method of plating metal in an integrated circuit, comprising processes of:
- providing a ruthenium-containing thin film on a substrate;
- annealing said ruthenium-containing thin film in an oxygen-free environment under oxide-reducing conditions to form a substantially oxide-free annealed ruthenium-containing thin film;
- and
- plating metal directly onto said annealed ruthenium-containing thin film.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.