High Frequency Simulation and Characterization of Advanced Copper Interconnects

In this paper we evaluate impact of Copper on high frequency (HF) behavior for deep submicron interconnects. Especially we compare Aluminum vs. Copper structures and study association of Copper with low-k dielectrics. Firstly we proceed electromagnetic (EM) and electrical simulations to determine the necessary level of modeling. In a second step we make time domain characterization on dedicated devices. In this study we measure the effective benefit of Copper and low-k on crosstalk.