Electromigration testing of Al alloy films

A search for reliability improvement of Al film interconnections has led to the introduction of Al-Alloy films such as Al-Cu, Al-Cu-Si and so on. This report describes the results of an in-depth study of Al, Al-Cu (2 wt % Cu) and Al-Cu-Si (2 wt % Cu - 1% Si) film interconnections and Silicon/Al-Alloy film contacts as they impact reliability of integrated circuits. Resistivity, microstructure and composition of Al-Alloy films vacuum deposited from an induction heated source (IN-Source) and dc magnetron sputter deposition techniques have been investigated and it is concluded that IN-Source and dc magnetron sputter deposition techniques are equally capable of producing Al, Al-Cu (2 wt %) and Al-Cu-Si (2 wt % Cu - 1% Si) films of comparable compositions, resistivity and microstructure. Chemical analysis X-ray fluorescence electron microprobe, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and ion microprobe have been employed for Al-Alloy film characterization. Availability of automated dc magnetron sputter (M-S) deposition equipment was a primary factor in the selection of magnetron sputter deposited Al-Alloy films for electromigration testing.