Calculation of Cu/Ta interface electron transmission and effect on conductivity in nanoscale interconnect technology

Abstract

Resistivity augmentation in nanoscale metal interconnects is a performance limiting factor in integrated circuits. Here we present calculations of electron scattering and transmission at the interface between Cu interconnects and their barrier layers, in this case Ta. We also present a semiclassical model to predict the technological impact of this scattering and find that a barrier layer can significantly decrease conductivity, consistent with previously published measurements.

To appear in Appl. Phys. Lett., Nov. 2009. Replaced with version accepted for publication, clarifies discussion of semiclassical model. Conclusions unchanged

References in corpus (2)

• The structure and stability of beta-Ta thin films
• Dependence of resistivity on surface profile in nanoscale metal films and wires

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Thickness dependence of the resistivity of Platinum group metal thin films
• Grain boundary effects on electronic transport in metals
• Fully resolved currents from quantum transport calculations
• Highly parallelizable electronic transport calculations in periodic Rhodium and Copper nanostructures