Hydrogen-plasma-assisted hybrid atomic layer deposition of Ir thin film as novel Cu diffusion barrier

► 5 nm thick Ir layer was prepared by hybrid ALD method by mixing Ir precursor and reactant at the same cycles. ► A uniform, 5-nm-thick Ir thin film was grown on a Si substrate under 50 deposition cycles with sharp interface.► The dependence of the thickness on deposition cycles shows a linear relationship, which is the self-limiting nature of ALD.► Compared with conventional oxygen and ammonia reactants, the process cycles for 5 nm Ir was reduced from 200 to 50 cycles. ► The process time was also considerably recued to 18%.