Claims
- 1. A structure comprising:
- a semiconductor body
- a body of copper having a surface thereon; and
- a layer of a low resistivity Cu.sub.x semiconductor.sub.1-x compound interposed between the semiconductor body and the body of copper on at least a part of said surface to substantially prevent diffusion of copper into the semiconductor body, wherein said layer is produced by the steps comprising:
- creating an interface at said surface with a surface of the semiconductor body; and
- treating said interface by maintaining it at a temperature .ltoreq. about 200.degree. C. to form the low resistivity Cu.sub.x semiconductor.sub.1-x layer thereat.
- 2. A structure produced by the steps of claim 1 wherein said treating step comprises maintaining the Cu-semiconductor interface at about room temperature to form said Cu-semiconductor compound.
- 3. A structure produced by the steps of claim 1 wherein said treating step comprises heating the Cu-semiconductor interface to form said Cu-semiconductor compound.
- 4. A structure produced by the steps of claim 1 wherein said treating step comprises heating the Cu-semiconductor interface to a temperature of at least about 150.degree. C. for at least about 20 minutes.
- 5. A structure produced by the steps of claim 1 wherein said semiconductor comprises silicon and said compound comprises Cu.sub.x Si.sub.1-x.
- 6. A structure produced by the steps of claim 1 wherein said semiconductor comprises germanium and said compound comprises Cu.sub.x Ge.sub.1-x.
- 7. A structure comprising:
- a substrate; and
- an electrical conductor on at least a portion of said substrate wherein said conductor comprises a plurality of layers at least one of which is of a Cu.sub.x semiconductor.sub.1-x compound and another of which is of copper, wherein said layer of Cu.sub.x semiconductor.sub.1-x compound is on at least a part of said copper layer.
- 8. A structure as in claim 7 wherein at least one other of said plurality of layers is of an oxygen-containing material disposed on the surface of said substrate, and said Cu.sub.x semiconductor.sub.1-x compound is disposed on said layer of an oxygen-containing material.
- 9. A structure as in claim 7 further comprising a layer of a dielectric disposed on the surface of said substrate, and said Cu.sub.x semiconductor.sub.1-x compound disposed on said layer of dielectric.
- 10. A structure comprising:
- a semiconductor having a surface;
- a body of Cu disposed at said surface; and
- a Cu-semiconductor compound interface interposed between said surface and said body of Cu, said compound substantially preventing diffusion of Cu into said semiconductor.
- 11. A semiconductor device comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate;
- a multilayer electrical conductor on at least a portion of a surface of said semiconductor substrate, at least one of the layers of the multilayer conductor being copper and another of said layers being a low temperature annealed Cu.sub.x semiconductor.sub.1-x compound that forms an interface between said at least one copper layer and said portion of a surface of said semiconductor substrate to substantially prevent diffusion of copper into said semiconductor substrate.
- 12. The semiconductor device of claim 11 wherein said interface is created by heating the copper layer and the semiconductor substrate to a temperature about .ltoreq.200.degree. C. to create the Cu.sub.x semiconductor.sub.1-x compound of the interface layer.
- 13. The structure of claim 12 wherein said Cu-semiconductor compound is a Cu--Ge compound.
- 14. The structure of claim 12 wherein said Cu-semiconductor compound is a Cu--Si compound.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/200,832 filed Feb. 18, 1994 now abandoned which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/818,027 filed Jan. 6, 1992 now abandoned which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/561,045 filed Aug. 1, 1990 now abandoned which is a continuation in part of Pat. No. 416,311 filed Sep. 29, 1989 now abandoned.
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0179369 |
Apr 1986 |
EPX |
0259616 |
Mar 1988 |
EPX |
0335383 |
Oct 1989 |
EPX |
2094908 |
Oct 1982 |
GBX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (3)
Entry |
Thompson et al., "Low temperature getting of Cu,Ag and An across a wafer of Si by Al", Appl. Phys. Lett. 41(5), 1 Sep. 1982 pp. 440-442. |
Cros et al, "Formation, oxidation, electronic and electrical properties of copper silicides", J. Appl. Phys. 67(7), 1 Apr. 1990, pp. 3328-3336. |
Hu et al., "Diffusion barriers for Cu", IBM Tech. Disc. Bull. vol. 29, No. 3, Aug. 1986, pp. 1395-1396. |
Continuations (3)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
200832 |
Feb 1994 |
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Parent |
818027 |
Jan 1992 |
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Parent |
561045 |
Aug 1990 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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416331 |
Sep 1989 |
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