Higher yields with trench-first BEOL.(Industry Watch)(back end of line)(low-k dielectrics)

Semiconductor International, February, 2005 by Peters, Laura

In back-end-of-line (BEOI,) processing, important changes include the replacement of low-k dielectrics with ultralow-k dielectrics and the non-linear increase of copper resistivity with sub-100 nm scaling of interconnect dimensions. In a recent paper presented at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), the Crolles, France-based joint venture between STMicroelectronics, Freescale Semiconductor and Philips Semiconductors demonstrated a fully integrated 300 mm, 65 nm BEOI, that employed a trench first with hard mask (TFHM) dual-damascene approach. This strategy allows faster yield ramp because of better compatibility with low-k materials and improved lithography process window. The group was able to reduce the time-to-yield performance from 18 months to 7...

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