Nanosecond Laser Anneal for BEOL Performance Boost in Advanced FinFETs

Nanosecond laser-induced grain growth in Cu interconnects is demonstrated for the first time using 14nm FinFET technology. We achieved a 35% reduction in Cu interconnect resistance, which delivers a 15% improvement in RC and a gain of 2 – 5% in I
Dsat
. Additionally, reliability was enhanced with an improvement in dielectric VBD and Cu EM performance without impacting the ULK mechanical integrity. Our results demonstrate a path to extending Cu interconnects for performance boost in 14nm FinFETs and beyond.