Post Si(C)N hillock nucleation and growth in IC copper lines controlled by diffusional creep

Post Si(C)N hillocks are characterized on Cu interconnects networks. Each network is compounded by standard damascene process electroplated Cu lines with given width and local line density. AFM results show that total volume per area of post Si(C)N hillocks both on narrow and large lines increases linearly with local Cu line density. Two trends of hillocks nucleation and growth are highlighted depending on line width. For line widths inferior to 4 μm, hillocks are located at the line edge. As line density increases, the number of hillocks remains constant but their mean volume proportionally increases. For wider lines, hillocks preferentially nucleate at the center of the line. The number of hillocks proportionally increases as line density increases, but hillock mean volume remains constant. Post Si(C)N hillocks density is found to be proportional to post CMP Cu grain surface boundary density before capping. It is proposed that hillocks growth could be controlled by Cu/Ta interface diffusion on narrowest lines and by grain boundary diffusion on wider ones.