This paper presents a study of electron scattering in damascene-processed Cu interconnects. To understand the leading electron-scattering mechanism responsible for the size effect, Cu interconnects with varying physical widths, 80-750 nm, were made, and their resistivity characterized as a function of temperature, ranging from liquid He temperature (4.2 K) to 500 K. The resulting data suggest that surface scattering, contrary to expectations, was not the primary cause of the size effect observed in this investigation. Surface scattering was found to weaken with decreasing line width. Further analysis leads to the conclusion that a substantial fraction of the size effect originates from impurity content scaling inversely with width in these samples.

This paper introduces new electrochemical cells and testing methods that are ideal for characterizing corrosion risk assessment of the components used for liquid cooling system with high surface to liquid volume ratio. Two cell configurations are described in this paper and they use three electrode and two electrode cells. These cells have the identical structure except for the number of electrodes. These cells are made by sandwiching the working electrode plate (sample) and the counter electrode plate (graphite) with a spacer (gasket), and by filling the cavity with the liquid under interest. In case of the three-electrode cell, the reference electrode is inserted through the hole in the graphite. The three-electrode cell is ideal for the quantitative characterization of the corrosion rate by utilizing conventional electrochemical techniques such as a Tafel method. The use of the two-electrode cell is similar to the case of the galvanic corrosion characterization as it measures the cell current that flows between the dissimilar metals that are in contact with the liquid. When coupled with computer assisted data acquisition, the two-electrode cell configuration allows the characterization of long-term corrosion reliability of a component with a variation in a large number of test variables. It is particularly useful in finding corrosion inhibitors.

A total of 30 talks were presented at this symposium. Selected peer-reviewed articles appear in this special issue of the Journal. A broad range of topics relating to synthesis, morphology, microstructure, and characterization of coatings for a variety of applications were presented in the symposium. These included results and discussion on coatings of amorphous materials, composites, polymers, metals, semiconductors, superconductors, and biomaterials. Several articles focus on process-property-performance correlations.The organizing committee is thankful to the speakers, session chairs, authors, and reviewers for their participation and support. The Program Organizers were Nuggehalli M. Ravindra (Ravi), New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT);

This paper concerns the new method of detecting the integration failures in porous low-k (PLK)/Cu interconnects using simple voltammetry-based techniques. In essence, the technique takes advantage of the fact that pores in PLK allow permeation of liquid, including electrolyte, into interconnect structures. The infiltration of electrolyte allows the formation of a micro-cell, consisting of two mating Cu interconnect electrodes and the electrolyte in PLK, where simple linear voltammetry can examine various integration reliability issues pertinent to PLK/Cu interconnects. Specifically, the technique is proven to be effective in detection of 1) failure in Ta barrier, 2) cracks in the capping layer, and 3) trapped impurity in pores in PLK. The working principle of the voltammetry technique and demonstration of its effectiveness is introduced in this paper.