Technology and reliability issues of multilevel interconnects in bipolar, BiCMOS and CMOS VLSIC/ULSICs

It is argued that multilevel metallizations are the key to achieving bipolar, CMOS and BiCMOS VLSI/ULSICs with superior performance and higher packing density. It is also concluded that Al-based multilevel metallizations with SiO/sub 2/ as the interlevel dielectric (ILD) are going to remain the most widely used VLSI/ULSI technology. The fundamental properties and limitations of multilevel metallizations are summarized, and solutions developed for many of the limitations are noted.