Effect of multistep annealing on mechanical and surface properties of electroplated Cu thin films

Electroplated (EP) Cu films demonstrate a microstructural transition at room temperature, known as self-annealing, that involves grain growth and texture changes. In this paper, we have investigated the annealing behavior of EP Cu films grown on a Cu seed layer deposited on top of a TaN barrier layer. A grazing incident x-ray diffraction (GIXRD) pattern shows stronger x-ray reflections form Cu (111) and (220) planes but weaker reflections from (200), (311), and (222) planes in all the EP Cu samples. Nanoindentation was performed on all the samples using the continuous stiffness measurement technique. The elastic modulus varied from 121 GPa to 132 GPa, while the hardness varied from 1 GPa to 1.3 GPa, depending on the annealing conditions. The surface morphology and roughness of the Cu films were characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The tribological properties of the copper films were measured using the Bench Top chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) tester (CETR, Inc., Campbell, CA). Nanoindentation was performed on the samples after CMP, and an increase in hardness and modulus was observed. This may be attributed to the work hardening of the Cu films during CMP.