LASER-ASSISTED CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION OF NICKEL AND LASER CUTTING IN INTEGRATED-CIRCUIT RESTRUCTURING

Laser-assisted chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) of nickel from Ni(CO)( 4) has been utilised for the restructuring of integrated circuit (IC) interconnections. Nickel lines were deposited on a SiO2 passivated IC to achieve new local interconnections between integrated circuit struc tures. Depositions were carried out over the pressure range of 0.2 to 2.2 mbar of pure Ni(CO)(4) buffered in 0 to 800 mbar He. Argon ion las er wavelengths of 488 and 514.5 nm, laser power of 50-150 mW and a las er scan speed of 80 mu m/s were utilised for the deposition. The morph ology and chemical contents of the deposited interconnection microstru ctures was examined by AFM, optical microscopy and LIMA. The resistivi ty of the deposited lines was found to be close to the nickel bulk res istivity. The utilisation of Nd:YAG and XeCl excimer lasers in the cut ting of Al and Mo conductor lines for integrated circuit modification is also described.