Ultra-thin tantalum nitride copper interconnect barrier

• Main Authors: Cooney, III, Edward C, Stamper, Anthony K
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 06.08.2002

The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor interconnect metallurgy; more specifically, it relates to a conformal barrier layer for copper interconnect metallurgy and methods of fabricating the layer. A method of fabricating an interconnect for a semiconductor device is disclosed. The method comprises: forming a dielectric layer on a semiconductor substrate; forming a trench in the dielectric layer; placing the semiconductor substrate in a plasma deposition chamber having a tantalum target; initiating a plasma in the presence of nitrogen in the plasma deposition chamber; and depositing an ultra-thin layer comprising tantalum and nitrogen in the trench.