Nanoindentation study of the sputtered Cu thin films for interconnect applications

Copper films of different thicknesses of 0.1, 0.5, and 1 /spl mu/m were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering on the adhesion promoting Ta layer deposited on the silicon (100) wafer. The films were annealed in vacuum at temperature 200/spl deg/ C and their elastic modulus and hardness were measured by nanoindentation technique. The influence of thickness and annealing temperature on the mechanical behavior of copper thin films is explored in the present work.