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Atomic layer chemical vapour deposition for copper dual damascene interconnects

Objetivo

In the ATOL project an international consortium will evaluate the production worthiness of the Atomic Layer Chemical Vapour Deposition (ALCVD) tool for barrier and Cu seed multilayer metal applications in CMOS013 manufacturing. The consortium will establish a list of specifications against which the performance of the tool will be compared to. Initially the components of the system-the TiN and Cu process modules- will be tested with regard to the uniformity and reproducibility of the thin film properties. In the second phase of the evaluation the performance of the whole system will be measured including throughput and Cost of Ownership (CoO).

Objectives:
The project will critically support the commercialisation of the Atomic Layer Chemical Vapour Deposition (ALCVD) tool of ASM microchemistry for barrier and Cu seed applications in the CMOS013 production. It will enable the tool manufacturer to enter the advanced metallisation tool market with a breakthrough system. This will be achieved by giving an international consortium the opportunity to test the tool at the assessment centre. The semiconductor chip manufacturers, taking part in this project, represent a wide range of products consisting of microprocessors and memory chips for personal computers, chips for telecommunications, for consumer electronics etc. Therefore, the tool will be exposed to demands from different product sectors. It also gives European chip manufacturers the possibility to take part in the assessment of a state-of-the-art technique, which will give them a competitive advantage in determining their metallisation strategy in time for the CMOS013 node.

Work description:
The project will be carried out in three different work packages with each package lasting 6 months. In work package 1 the tool assessment will be prepared. This includes establishing the specification targets by the consortium, against which the tool will be compared, the configuration of the tool at the vendors site, shipment, installation and basic qualification at the site of the assessment centre. In work package 2 the components of the tool, i.e. the process modules will be evaluated in terms of their production worthiness. The performance of the barrier module will be constrated to the specifications established in work package 1 by the consortium. Processes of Record (POR), which are proven to be materials compatible with a CMOS flow, will be installed on the process modules. The testing, which will mainly be done on blanket wafers, will evaluate the uniformity and reproducibility of the deposition of ALCVD TiN and Cu by measuring different thin film properties over a number of wafers. In work package 3 a unified approach to the assessment of the tool is taken. In this part the focus is on the optimisation of the throughput. An analysis of the throughput will reveal the bottlenecks and their impact on the throughput will be reduced. Among other parameters the throughput will eventually be fed into a Cost of Ownership (CoO) calculation of the ALCVD metallisation tool. It will provide the basis for a comparison between ALCVD and ionised-PVD. The latter is currently the industries standard. Furthermore, the performance of the ALCVD films will be evaluated on topography wafers. Meander/fork structures with critical dimensions of the CMOS013 node will serve as a test vehicle to determine the number of electrically active defects due to ALCVD TiN and Cu. The results will be contrasted to results obtained from ionised-PVD metallisation.

Milestones:
The assessment programme will yield a list of specifications the ALCVD tool has to achieve to demonstrate the reproduction worthiness for the CMOS013 device generation. The performance of the barrier and Cu seed modules will be contrasted to the specifications on the uniformity and repeatability of thin film properties and defect generation. The throughput of the system will be optimised in the course of the programme, which will result in Cost of Ownership evaluation of the ALCVD tool.

Palabras clave

Convocatoria de propuestas

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Coordinador

INTERUNIVERSITAIR MICRO-ELECTRONICA CENTRUM VZW
Aportación de la UE
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Dirección
KAPELDREEF 75
3001 LEUVEN
Bélgica

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Coste total
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Participantes (4)