APPLICATION OF AMORPHOUS CU-ZR BINARY ALLOY AS A DIFFUSION BARRIER INCU SI CONTACT SYSTEMS/

Thermally stable Cu/Si contact systems using an amorphous binary alloy of Cu0.6Zr0.4 With a relatively low resistivity of similar to 150 mu Omega cm as a diffusion barrier have been developed. The application o f the stable compound ZrN in the Zr/Cu/Cu-Zr/ZrN/Si contact system eff ectively suppresses the interfacial reactions up to a temperature of 5 50 degrees C, which is higher than the crystallization temperature of the Cu-Zr amorphous alloy, similar to 500 degrees C. By designing the contact system with the Cu-containing amorphous alloy Cu-Zr and the st able barrier compound ZrN, also a compound of a constituent material o f the amorphous alloy, we can obtain an effective diffusion barrier in the Cu/Si contact system. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.