Comprehensive Chemistry Designs in Porous SiOCH Film Stacks and Plasma Etching Gases for Damageless Cu Interconnects in Advanced ULSI Devices

High performance Cu dual-damascene (DD) interconnects without process-induced damages are developed in porous SiOCH stacks with the effective dielectric constant (k
_eff
) of 2.95, in which a carbon (C)-rich molecular-pore-stacking (MPS) SiOCH film (k = 2.5) is stacked directly on an oxygen (O)-rich porous SiOCH (k = 2.7) film. The novel etch-stopperless structure is obtained by comprehensive chemistry design of C/O ratios in the SiOCH stack and the etching plasma of an Ar/N
₂
/CF
₄
/O
₂
gas mixture technique. Large hydrocarbons attached to hexagonal silica backbones in the MPS-SiOCH prevent the Si-CHx bonds from oxidation during O
₂
-plasma ashing, suppressing the C-de- pleted damage area at the DD sidewall. Combining multiresist mask process with immersion ArF photolithography, strictly controlled Cu DD interconnects with 180-nm pitched lines and 65-nm-diameter vias are obtained successfully, ready for the 300-mm fabrication.