e-CVD deposition with Cu(acac)2 utilizing plasma as a reducing agent for the deposition of copper

Sammanfattning

The use of electronics in today’s society is ever-increasing which puts pressure on the industry to manufacture reliable and powerful microchips at an increasing rate, putting stress on the environment. The production of microchips depends on being able to reliably produce nm thick interconnects out of copper. The creation of interconnects is usually done by electrodeposition (ED) where a small film of copper gets deposited on to the desired area. The Pedersen group at Linköping University have invented e-CVD, a new way of depositing metals utilizing the free electrons present in a plasma discharge. The method has been proven capable of depositing nm to µm thick films depending on different parameters. The newly patented method is a dry and vacuum-based procedure that eliminates the need for secondary precursors to act as reducing agents making it a green, cost-effective alternative. This thesis intends to investigate if copper(II)acetylacetonate (Cu(acac)2) is viable as a precursor for the e-CVD method and how the composition and morphology of the formed thin film is dependent on the different deposition parameters. The methods of analysis were done by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Xray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and a Quarts Crystal Microbalance (QCM) to monitor the film growth in situ. The Results show that Cu(acac)2 was a viable precursor for e-CVD and the structure, morphology, composition and rate of growth all varied depending on the wide array of different parameters.