Development and qualification of a vacuum pumping system for metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy copper precursors

Semiconductor devices incorporating copper interconnects are set to revolut ionize the performance and functionality of integrated circuits. Copper int erconnects enable faster and more reliable circuitry at sub-0.25 mum dimens ions with lower resistivity and excellent resistance to electromigration. N umerous methodologies exist whereby copper can be deposited, with chemical vapor deposition (CVD) being one such technique. A vacuum pumping system th at effectively and efficiently handles the process byproducts from the CVD precursor Cu(hfac)(TMVS) has been developed and qualified. It is shown that a standard dry pump used in conjunction with additional apparatus in the v acuum system results in the safe handling of process byproducts. The perfor mance of each component of the vacuum system has been individually qualifie d and the abatement performance of the overall system shows >99% destructio n efficiency of process effluent. (C) 2000 American Vacuum Society. [S0734- 211X(00)10306-3].