Effects of a magnetic field on the copper metallization using the electroplating process

Abstract

We investigated the effects of a magnetic field on the electroplated copper films for the ULSI processes. The magnetic field was induced vertical to the electrodes and varied ranging from 0 to 600 G. The electroplating process was performed with on-off square pulse current source. The variation of the magnetic field vertical to the electrodes affected the deposition rate of the electroplated copper film, step coverage and gap filling in trench. As the intensity of the magnetic field increased, the deposition rate of the copper film increased, and also the resistance of electromigration increased. However, the magnetic field did not affect resistivity and surface morphology of the electroplated Cu film. At higher intensity of the magnetic field, good step coverage was obtained. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.