ITO as a diffusion barrier between Si and Cu

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films have been proposed as diffusion barriers for ultralarge scale integrated microelectronic devices. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction showed that in the Cu/ITO/Si film, the 10 nm thick nanocrystalline ITO film layer works effectively as a barrier. Transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, sheet resistance measurement, X-ray diffraction, and energy dispersive spectroscopy analyses revealed that ITO was found to be a good diffusion barrier against Cu at least up to 650 degrees C. The failure temperature of ITO films diffusion barrier (10 nm) was 700 degrees C. Our results show that ITO film can be considered as diffusion barriers for Cu metallization. (c) 2005 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.1860511] All rights reserved.