Patternable low-κ material for "greener" semiconductor manufacturing

Increasing complexity and manufacturing costs, along with the fundamental limits of planar CMOS devices, threaten to slow down the historical pace of progress in the semiconductor industry. We report herein an efficient, low-cost, "greener" way to fabricate dual-damascene copper (Cu) on-chip interconnect or Back-End-Of-the-Line (BEOL) structures using a novel multifunctional on-chip insulator, called a patternable low dielectric constant (low-κ) dielectric material. We have developed a patternable low-κ material that is compatible with 248 nm optical lithography and possesses electrical and mechanical properties similar to those of a conventional plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE CVD) deposited low-κ material. This κ=2.7 patternable low-κ material is based on the industry standard SiCOH-based material platform. We have also successfully demonstrated single- and dual-damascene integration of this novel patternable low-κ dielectric material into advanced Cu BEOL. Furthermore, we have demonstrated multi-level integration of this patternable low-κ material at 45 nm node Cu BEOL fatwire levels with very high electrical yields using the current BEOL manufacturing infrastructure. Therefore, the patternable low-κ material concept is a promising technology for highly efficient, low-cost and "greener" semiconductor manufacturing. ©2010 IEEE.