Local Texture and Electromigration in Fine Line Microelectronic Aluminum Metallization

Abstract

ABSTRACTAluminum films 1 μm thick were deposited on oxidized silicon by sputtering and partially ionized beam evaporation to vary the crystallographic texture. These films were patterned into lines and subsequently annealed at 400 °C for 1 h. A strong correlation between the electromigration behavior and the blanket film texture (X-ray diffraction (XRD) / pole figures) has been reported previously for these films. In this work, an Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) a.k.a. Backscatter Kikuchi Diffraction (BKD) technique was employed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to interrogate individual grain orientations. BKD pole figures were acquired for lines ≥0.3 μm wide and for blanket (pad) regions. Identical, inverse pole figures were found for blanket films measured using both XRD and BKD (pads). Furthermore, the BKD (111) fiber texture shows a line width dependency, with narrow lines having a slightly improved texture over blanket (pad) regions. Local grain orientations were investigated near and within electromigration testing sites with characteristic void and hillock morphologies. The relationship of neighboring grain orientations to electromigration damage is shown.