EVALUATION OF TANTALUM SILICIDE SPUTTERING TARGET MATERIALS FOR AMORPHOUS TA-SI-N DIFFUSION BARRIER FOR CU METALLIZATION

Amorphous tantalum-silicon-nitrogen films of about 500 nm thickness we re, reactively, sputter deposited onto (100)Si substrate using d.c. ma gnetron sputtering from TaSi0.1, TaSi0.4, and TaSi0.6 target materials . The film properties were characterized by using sheet resistance mea surements and X-ray diffraction. With increasing amounts of nitrogen i n the sputtering gas, the resistivity of the film increased. The erosi on surface of the multiphase target material was analyzed with SEM. Pa rticulate emission is minimized with increasing density and refined mi crostructure of the target material. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. Al l rights reserved.