METHOD OF DETERMINING BARRIER LAYER EFFECTIVENESS FOR PREVENTING METALLIZATION DIFFUSION BY FORMING A TEST SPECIMEN DEVICE AND USING A METAL PENETRATION MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE FOR FABRICATING A PRODUCTION SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND A TEST SPECIMEN DEVICE THEREBY FORMED

摘要

A method (M) of determining the effectiveness of a deposited thin conformal barrier layer (30) by forming a test specimen and measuring the copper (Cu) penetration from a metallization layer (40) through the barrier layer (30) (e.g., refractory metals, their nitrides, their carbides, or their other compounds), through a thin insulating dielectric layer (20) (e.g., SiO₂), and into a semiconductor (10) substrate (e.g., Si), wherein the interaction between the migrating metal ions and the semiconductor ions are detected/monitored, and wherein the detection/monitoring comprises (1) stripping at least a portion of the insulating dielectric layer (20) and the barrier layer (30) and (2) examining the semiconductor substrate (10) surface of the test specimen, thereby improving interconnect reliability, enhancing electromigration resistance, improving corrosion resistance, reducing copper diffusion, and a test specimen device thereby formed.