Conductor fill reflow with intermetallic compound wetting layer for semiconductor fabrication
US5693564A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 22, 1994 |
| Grant date | Dec 2, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 22, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S148/003
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A conductor fill technique uses an intermetallic compound wetting layer to allow a subsequent conductive material to be reflowed with minimized interaction between the conductive layer and the wetting layer. As one example, a wetting layer including TiAl or TiAl.sub.3 may be formed over a semiconductor wafer and in an opening of the wafer. A conductive layer including aluminum (Al) may then be deposited and reflowed over the wafer to fill the opening in forming a contact, via, or interconnect line, for example, with minimized interaction between the aluminum (Al) of the conductive layer and the wetting layer. Any reduction in conductance of the material filled in the opening may be minimized as the formation of any new intermetallic TiAl.sub.3 compounds that would otherwise increase the resistance of the material filled in the opening is minimized. Relatively denser and/or smaller-sized semiconductor devices may be fabricated with conductors that benefit from the relatively lower resistance of aluminum (Al) as aluminum (Al) may be used to fill relatively smaller openings with minimized reduction in conductance.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.