Comparison of the agglomeration behavior of Ag(Al) films and Ag(Au) films

It is essential to suppress agglomeration of Ag films caused by thermal treatment for their successful application as new metallization materials. Co-sputtered Ag(Al) and Ag(Au) films were investigated, with regard to their change in morphology and electrical resistivity after vacuum annealing. As a result, agglomeration of the Ag(Al) film (Al: 4.3 at.%) was not recognized even after annealing at 600 °C. However, void formation followed by de-wetting was observed for the Ag(Au) film after annealing, similar to that for a pure Ag film. The morphological change was accompanied by an increase in the resistivity of the Ag(Au) films with annealing temperature. On the other hand, the resistivity of the Ag(Al) films did not increase by annealing at temperatures from 400 to 600 °C. However, the film with the highest Al content, which was most resistive to agglomeration, had too high resistivity for use as a metallization material. By analysis of the Auger depth profile, the presence of very thin oxide layers at the surface of the film and at the interface with the substrate was confirmed for Ag(Al) films after annealing. This was considered to be the reason for the large difference in agglomeration behavior between the Ag(Au) and Ag(Al) films.