Analysis of leakage mechanisms and leakage pathways in intra-level Cu interconnects

Using the carrier transport modeling in intra-level Cu interconnects, we are able to distinguish the dominant leakage mechanisms: Ohmic, Poole-Frenkel and Schottky mechanisms. In addition, the probable dominant leakage pathways: bulk-induced, barrier layer-induced or their interfaces-induced pathways are deduced to explain the leakage behavior in multilayer interconnects.