The Microstructure and Electromigration Performance of Damascene-Fabricated Aluminum Interconnects

1997 ◽  
Vol 473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Besser ◽  
John E. Sanchez ◽  
David P. Fields ◽  
Shekhar Pramanick ◽  
Kashmir Sahota

ABSTRACTNovel metal deposition stack and damascene processing methods have been used to fabricate electrically isolated parallel arrays of 1.0 μm deep aluminum-alloy interconnect trenches varying in width from 0.5 μm to 16 μm. The grain size and crystallographic texture of the Al in these trenches has been characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and local electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), respectively. Narrow lines (0.5 and 1.0 μm wide) have a bamboo microstructure, intermediate widths (2.0 μm wide) are nearly bamboo, and wide lines (4.0 μ and wider) are polycrystalline. The <111> texture of the lines degrades with decreasing linewidth. A secondary <100> component is demonstrated and its origin proposed. The electromigration reliability of the narrow damascene Al lines was measured, and the observed enhancement of damascene Al interconnects compared to conventionally-fabricated Al interconnects is correlated with the microstructure.

1997 ◽  
Vol 472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Besser ◽  
John E. Sanchez ◽  
David P. Field ◽  
Shekhar Pram Anick ◽  
Kashmir Sahota

ABSTRACTNovel metal deposition stack and damascene processing methods have been used to fabricate electrically isolated parallel arrays of 1.0 νm deep aluminum-alloy interconnect trenches varying in width from 0.5 μm to 16 μm. The grain size and crystallographic texture of the Al in these trenches has been characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and local electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), respectively. Narrow lines (0.5 and 1.0 μm wide) have a bamboo microstructure, intermediate widths (2.0 μm wide) are nearly bamboo, and wide lines (4.0 μm and wider) are polycrystalline. The <111> texture of the lines degrades with decreasing linewidth. A secondary <100> component is demonstrated and its origin proposed. The electromigration reliability of the narrow damascene Al lines was measured, and the observed enhancement of damascene Al interconnects compared to conventionally-fabricated Al interconnects is correlated with the microstructure.


Author(s):  
G. G. Shaw

The morphology and composition of the fiber-matrix interface can best be studied by transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. For some composites satisfactory samples can be prepared by electropolishing. For others such as aluminum alloy-boron composites ion erosion is necessary.When one wishes to examine a specimen with the electron beam perpendicular to the fiber, preparation is as follows: A 1/8 in. disk is cut from the sample with a cylindrical tool by spark machining. Thin slices, 5 mils thick, containing one row of fibers, are then, spark-machined from the disk. After spark machining, the slice is carefully polished with diamond paste until the row of fibers is exposed on each side, as shown in Figure 1.In the case where examination is desired with the electron beam parallel to the fiber, preparation is as follows: Experimental composites are usually 50 mils or less in thickness so an auxiliary holder is necessary during ion milling and for easy transfer to the electron microscope. This holder is pure aluminum sheet, 3 mils thick.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2849
Author(s):  
Marcin Jan Dośpiał

This paper presents domain and structure studies of bonded magnets made from nanocrystalline Nd-(Fe, Co)-B powder. The structure studies were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry. On the basis of performed qualitative and quantitative phase composition studies, it was found that investigated alloy was mainly composed of Nd2(Fe-Co)14B hard magnetic phase (98 vol%) and a small amount of Nd1.1Fe4B4 paramagnetic phase (2 vol%). The best fit of grain size distribution was achieved for the lognormal function. The mean grain size determined from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images on the basis of grain size distribution and diffraction pattern using the Bragg equation was about ≈130 nm. HRTEM images showed that over-stoichiometric Nd was mainly distributed on the grain boundaries as a thin amorphous border of 2 nm in width. The domain structure was investigated using a scanning electron microscope and metallographic light microscope, respectively, by Bitter and Kerr methods, and by magnetic force microscopy. Domain structure studies revealed that the observed domain structure had a labyrinth shape, which is typically observed in magnets, where strong exchange interactions between grains are present. The analysis of the domain structure in different states of magnetization revealed the dynamics of the reversal magnetization process.


1997 ◽  
Vol 505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwame Owusu-Boahen ◽  
Alexander H. King

ABSTRACTWe have used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study the microstructure of thin gold films which were grown on 〈100〉 rock salt. The samples were annealed on the rock salt substrate or on a gold TEM specimen grid. Films annealed on rock salt had a larger mean grain size than those annealed on TEM grids. All of the annealed films have a 〈111〉 preferred orientation. Several cracks are observed in the film annealed on rock salt. Plastic yielding of the film was identified by the presence of dislocations, and is caused by tensile stress derived from grain growth. In spite of the uniform texture of the films, the observed dislocations were concentrated only in some individual grains, while their surrounding grains remained dislocation-free. Yielded grains showed no difference of orientation that would lead to higher Schmid factors, so other predictors of yielding must be considered.


1989 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Shaw ◽  
S. L. Shinde ◽  
D. Dimos ◽  
R. F. Cook ◽  
P. R. Duncombe ◽  
...  

We have used transmission electron microscopy and optical microscopy to examine the effect that grain size and heat treatment have on twinning and microcracking in polycrystalline Y1Ba2Cu3O7−δ. It is shown that isothermal oxygenation heat treatments produce twin structures consisting of parallel twins, with a characteristic spacing that increases with increasing grain size. Slow cooling through the temperature range where the orthorhombic-to-tetragonal transformation induces twinning, however, produces a structure consisting of a hierarchical arrangement of intersecting twins, the scale of which appears to be independent of grain size. It is also shown that the microcracking induced by anisotropic changes in grain dimensions on cooling or during oxygenation can be suppressed if the grain size of the material is kept below about 1 μm. The results are examined in the light of current models for transformation twinning and microcracking and the models used to access the effect other processing variables such as oxygen content, doping or heat treatment may have on the microstructure of Y1Ba2Cu3O7−δ.


1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 4570-4580 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Alguerá ◽  
M. L. Calzada ◽  
L. Pardo ◽  
E. Snoeck

Transmission electron microscopy has shown that the grain size of sol-gel-prepared lanthanum-modified lead titanate films increases from ∼100 to ∼1 μm when the excess of PbO in the precursor solution is reduced from 20 to 10 mol%. Switchable polarization is higher in the films with a smaller grain size. Profilometry and the temperature dependence of the dielectric permittivity indicate that films are tensile stressed by the substrate. The grain-size effect on polarization switching is explainedby taking into account this tensile stress, which is thought to induce some a-domain orientation and 90° domain wall clamping in the grains attached to the substrate.


2013 ◽  
Vol 275-277 ◽  
pp. 1952-1955
Author(s):  
Ling Fang Jin ◽  
Xing Zhong Li

New functional nanocomposite FePt:C thin films with FePt underlayers were synthesized by noneptaxial growth. The effect of the FePt layer on the ordering, orientation and magnetic properties of the composite layer has been investigated by adjusting FePt underlayer thickness from 2 nm to 14 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), together with x-ray diffraction (XRD), has been used to check the growth of the double-layered films and to study the microstructure, including the grain size, shape, orientation and distribution. XRD scans reveal that the orientation of the films was dependent on FePt underlayer thickness. In this paper, the TEM studies of both single-layered nonepitaxially grown FePt and FePt:C composite L10 phase and double-layered deposition FePt:C/FePt are presented.


2014 ◽  
Vol 886 ◽  
pp. 36-40
Author(s):  
Rong Hua Zhang ◽  
Bao Hong Zhu ◽  
Xiao Ping Zheng

Heat-resistant Al-8.5Fe-1.3V-1.7Si aluminum alloys were prepared by spray forming technique. The phase transition of deposited alloys from room temperature to 500°C was measured by Differential Scanning Calorimeter. The organization and the second phases of the alloys were observed and studied by transmission electron microscopy. The research results show that No endothermic peak appears in the deposited alloys during heating process, there is no phase transition occur in the alloy during the heating process from room temperature to 500°C. The deposited alloys mainly include α-Al and α-Al12(Fe,V)3Si phase. Under the transmission electron microscopy, there are also a small amount of slug, fan-shaped, needle-like, block, strip second phases, these phases are Al12Fe3Si, Al8Fe2Si, θ-Al13Fe4, Al9FeSi3, Al6Fe.


2007 ◽  
Vol 1056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jafar F. Al-Sharab ◽  
Rajendra Sadangi ◽  
Vijay Shukla ◽  
Bernard Kear

ABSTRACTPolycrystalline Y2O3 is the material of choice for IR windows since it has excellent optical properties in the visible, and near infra-red band. However, current processing methods yield polycrystalline Y2O3 with large grain size (> 100 μm), which limits the hardness and erosion resistance attainable. One way to improve strength is to develop an ultra-fine grained material with acceptable optical transmission properties. To realize a fine-grained ceramic, one approach is to develop a composite structure, in which one phase inhibits the growth of the other phase during processing. In this study, Y2O3-MgO nanocomposite with various MgO content (20, 50 and 80 mol%) were synthesized using plasma spray method. Extensive characterization techniques including x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Energy Dispersive spectrometry (EDS) were employed to study the synthesized powder as well as the consolidated sample. Transmission Electron Microscopy, as well as EDS chemical mapping, revealed that the consolidated sample have bi-continuous MgO-Y2O3 nanostructure with an average grain size of 200 nm.


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