Electron backscatter diffraction characterization of blind hole fillings by electrolytic Cu deposition

Self-Annealing Behavior of Electroplated Cu in Blind-Hole Structures

“…The observation was consistent with our pervious study. 38 The preferred crystallographic orientation of 111 along Cu deposition direction had also been reported in previous studies, 13,14,19,20,22,24,25,27,28,30,31,38,46,47 where the electrolytic Cu deposition was carried out in a plate or a through-hole/blind-hole structure. Based on the minimization of the surface energy, the [111] crystallographic direction is the preferred direction for Cu electrodeposition because the close-packed plane of face-centered cubic (FCC) Cu is {111}.…”

“…3-4), where a fast Cu deposition was initiated during the bottom-up deposition regime. 38 Therefore, it is of great interest to investigate the detailed crystallographic information of the electroplated Cu in the bottom-up deposition regime. Figs.…”

“…Unlike the situation for a blanket film (e.g., surface Cu), the blind holes possess a U-shaped structure, where the plating current distribution is nonuniform upon electrodeposition because of the current crowding effect. [33][34][35] Furthermore, the distribution of the electrolyte as well as organic additives depends on the geometric pattern (flow field) and the plating current density, 11,13,[36][37][38] which may play a key role in the Cu self-annealing behavior. The objective of this study was to investigate the self-annealing behavior of electroplated Cu in the BH structure, specifically focusing on the crystallographic miz E-mail: ceho1975@hotmail.com crostructure evolution and impurity redistribution in the as-deposited stage.…”

Formation mechanism of pinholes in electroplated Cu films and its mitigation

“…To eliminate the undesired surface feature (i.e., concave Cu, Fig. 1b), prolonging the plating time to improve the surface-Cu flatness is now being attempted in the microelectronics industry [7][8][9][10]. This improvement in the Cu surface feature inevitably yields a thick Cu deposition (Fig.…”

“…4(a)-(d). The <111>||ND (deposition direction) preferred crystallographic orientation had also been found in the electrolytic Cu deposition of the through-/blind-hole structures[6][7][8][9]. Based on surface energy minimization, [111] is the preferred direction for Cu electrodeposition because the close-packed plane of the face-centered cubic (FCC) Cu is {111}[23][24].…”