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Effects of Interface Nonplanarity on the Interface Fracture Energy of the TiN/SiO2System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Michael Lane
Affiliation:
Department of Meterials Science and Engineering, Stanford University
Winnie Ni
Affiliation:
Department of Meterials Science and Engineering, Stanford University
Reiner Dauskardt
Affiliation:
Department of Meterials Science and Engineering, Stanford University
Qing Ma
Affiliation:
Intel Corp., Santa Clara, CA
Harry Fujimoto
Affiliation:
Intel Corp., Santa Clara, CA
Nety Krishna
Affiliation:
Applied Meterials, Santa Clara, CA
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Abstract

Fracture mechanics models indicate that nonplanarity of the interface should have a significant effect on the measured fracture energy [1–5]. Previous work on a typical interconnect structure (Fig 1) has demonstrated that two thin film systems with nominally the same composition, but processed under different conditions exhibited different SiO2/TiN interface fracture energies [6,7]. pon investigation via crosssectional TEM, it was found that the stronger interface was significantly rougher than the weaker interface. These results indicate that small changes in processing conditions can significantly effect both interface morphology and adhesion. Accordingly, in this study, samples differing in the flow rate of Ar to a plasma arc during deposition of a TIN layer were chosen in order to investigate the effects on the interface morphology and the resulting interface fracture energy.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1998

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References

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