This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application Number JP 2007-082434 filed on Mar. 27, 2007, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device for reducing a resistance value in a pad electrode formation region and a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an example of a conventional manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, the following manufacturing method, shown in
As described above, in the conventional manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, the Al electrode pad 33 is formed on the interlayer insulating film 32, and thereafter, the silicon nitride film 34 serving as a passivation film is formed on the Al electrode pad 33. Subsequently, after the opening portion 35 is formed in the silicon nitride film 34 on the Al electrode pad 33, the barrier metal film 36 is formed on the exposed portion of the Al electrode pad 33 by a sputtering method. In this manufacturing method, in the step of forming the opening portion 35 in the silicon nitride film 34 and thereafter forming the barrier metal film 36, the Al electrode pad 33 exposed at the opening portion 35 is oxidized, and thereby, an oxide film is formed on the Al electrode pad 33. Consequently, a current path above the Al electrode pad 33 is formed so that an electric current flows through the Al electrode pad 33, the oxide film formed on the Al electrode pad 33, the barrier metal film 36 and then the gold bump 37. In this configuration, the oxide film is formed in the current path, and this leads to a problem that reduction of a resistance value above the Al electrode pad 33 is difficult.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances. A semiconductor device according to the present invention is characterized by including: a pad electrode provided on an insulated semiconductor substrate; an oxidation preventing metal layer formed to coat at least a principal surface of the pad electrode; a spin coat resin film formed to coat the oxidation preventing metal layer; an opening region provided in the spin coat resin film to expose the a surface of the oxidation preventing metal layer; a plating metal layer connected to the oxidation preventing metal layer exposed at the opening region of the spin coat resin film; and an electrode formed on the plating metal layer. Accordingly, in this invention, the amount of the oxide film on the one principal surface of the pad electrode provided in the opening region is considerably reduced by the oxidation preventing metal layer. Consequently, the resistance value above the pad electrode is reduced.
With reference to
As shown in
A pad electrode 3 formed on the top surface of the insulating layer 2 is made of an alloy layer consisting mainly of aluminum (Al). The pad electrode 3 is formed of an aluminum (Al) layer or an alloy layer consisting mainly of Al such as an aluminum-silicon (Al—Si) film, an aluminum-silicon-copper (Al—Si—Cu) film or an aluminum-copper (Al—Cu) film, for example. The film thickness of the pad electrode 3 is, for example, 0.4 to 3.0 (μm).
Subsequently, an oxidation preventing metal layer 4 is formed on the top surface of the pad electrode 3. The oxidation preventing metal layer 4 is formed of a refractory metal layer such as a titanium nitride (TiN) layer or a titanium tungsten (TiW) layer, for example. The reductive action of the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 makes a natural oxide film difficult to be formed on the top surface of the oxidation preventing metal layer 4. The oxidation preventing metal layer 4 may be used as a reflection preventing layer for an interconnection layer.
Then, a shield layer 5 is formed on the top surface of the insulating layer 2 and parts of the oxidation preventing metal layer 4. The shield layer 5 is formed of a silicon nitride (SiN) film. The shield layer 5 prevents ingress of water to the insulating layer 2, and also prevents corrosion of the interconnection layer and the like. In the formation region of the pad electrode 3, the shield layer 5 formed on the formation region of the pad electrode 3 is removed to form an opening portion 6. The oxidation preventing metal layer 4 is exposed at the opening portion 6.
Subsequently, a spin coat resin film 7 is formed on the top surface of the shield layer 5. The spin coat resin film 7 is an insulating layer such as a polybenzoxazole (PBO) film or a polyimide resin film, for example. The PBO film is photosensitive resin, and has properties such as high heat resistance, a high mechanical property and a low dielectric property. In addition, the PBO film prevents deterioration of semiconductor device caused by the external environment, for example, moisture, and thereby stabilizes the surface of the semiconductor device.
An opening region 8 is formed in the spin coat resin film 7. The formation of the opening region 8 in the spin coat resin film 7 is performed by using a photolithography technique such as wet etching. The opening region 8 is formed in a portion of the spin coat resin film 7, the portion being above the pad electrode 3, and the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 is exposed at the opening region 8.
Then, a plating metal layer 9 is formed on the top surface of the spin coat resin film 7 including the inner surfaces of the opening region 8 as well. In the opening region 8, the plating metal layer 9 is formed on the top surface of the oxidation preventing metal layer 4.
Two types of films are stacked to form the plating metal layer 9. A first film is a refractory metal layer formed of, for example, a chrome (Cr) layer, a titanium (Ti) layer, or titanium tungsten (TiW) layer, and is formed by a sputtering method. The first film is used as a seed layer for forming a plated layer on the plating metal layer 9. Moreover, on the first film, a Cu layer or a nickel (Ni) layer is formed as a second film by a sputtering method, for example. The second film is used as seed for forming a plated layer on the plating metal layer 9. In a case where the PBO film is used as the spin coat resin film 7, for example, by using a Cr layer as the plating metal layer 9, the adhesion between the PBO film and a Cu plated layer 10 is improved because of the adhesion between the PBO film and the Cr layer, and the adhesion between the Cr layer and the Cu plated layer 10.
Subsequently, the Cu plated layer 10 is formed on the top surface of the plating metal layer 9 by, for example, electrolytic plating. When the Cu plated layer 10 is to be formed, the Cu layer is used as the plating metal layer 9.
Meanwhile, when an Au plated layer, instead of the Cu plated layer 10, is to be formed, an Ni layer, instead of the Cu layer, is used as the plating metal layer 9.
Note that,
As shown in
Next, a bump electrode 13 is formed in connection with the Cu plated layer 10 through the opening portion 12. The bump electrode 13 is formed of, for example, Cu, Au, and solder in this order from the lower layer.
In the structure shown in
Note that, although
Specifically, the solid line indicates the resistance values per unit opening area of the structure which is formed by stacking the oxidation preventing metal layer 4, the plating metal layer 9 and the Cu plated layer 10 on the pad electrode 3 as shown in
In
As shown in
Here, although the detail will be described later, the opening portion 6 is formed in the shield layer 5 formed above the pad electrode 3 and the opening region 8 is formed in the spin coat resin film 7 in the state where the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 is formed on the pad electrode 3, in the structure of the solid line. In this structure, the oxide film on the top surface of the pad electrode 3 is not practically formed, or is thinly formed. Furthermore, the oxide film is thinly formed on the top surface of the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 as described above. Thus, the top surface of the pad electrode 3 is coated with the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 which have considerably small sheet resistivity compared to the oxide film, and which is difficult to be oxidized. Consequently, the resistance value above the pad electrode 3 is reduced.
Moreover, in
Note that, although the case where the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 is exposed at the opening region 8 formed in the spin coat resin film 7 is described in this embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the pad electrode 3 as well as the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 may be exposed at the opening region 8 formed in the spin coat resin film 7. In other words, since the electric current mainly flows the region where the resistance value is small, the structure only needs to include the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 provided in the current path above the pad electrode 3 to prevent the oxidation of the top surface of the pad electrode 3. Various other modifications can also be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Next, with reference to
First, as shown in
Subsequently, a pad electrode 3 and an oxidation preventing metal layer 4 are formed on the insulating layer 2. Specifically, on the silicon substrate 1, an Al layer or an alloy layer consisting mainly of Al such as an Al—Si film, an Al—Si—Cu film or an Al—Cu film is deposited by a sputtering method. Thereafter, a TiN layer or TiW layer is deposited directly on the above-described Al layer or the Al alloy layer by, for example, the sputtering method. The Al layer or the Al alloy layer and the TiN layer or the TiW layer are selectively removed by a photolithography technique and an etching technique in order to form the pad electrode 3 and the oxidation preventing metal layer 4. Through the continuous sputtering, the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 is formed on the top surface of the pad electrode 3. Consequently, the oxidation of the top surface of the pad electrode 3 can be prevented.
In the step of forming the pad electrode 3, an interconnection layer may be formed in other region, so that the above-described TiN layer or the TiW layer can be used as a reflection prevention film in the interconnection layer.
Thereafter, an SiN film is deposited on the silicon substrate 1 by, for example, a plasma CVD method. Then, the opening portion 6 is formed in a portion of the SiN film by using the photolithography technique and the etching technique, the portion being above the pad electrode 3, and then, the shield layer 5 is formed. Here, when the opening portion 6 is formed in the SiN film, the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 remains on the top surface of the pad electrode 3 by performing dry etching using, for example, Ar, CF4, CHF3, or N2 system gas. Note that, a resin film such as polyimide may be used instead of this SiN film or the like.
Next, as shown in
Here, in this embodiment, the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 is exposed at the opening portion 6 and at the opening region 8 respectively in the steps of forming the opening portion 6 in the shield layer 5 and of forming the opening region 8 in the spin coat resin film 7. Accordingly, an oxide film formation on the top surface of the pad electrode 3 on which the opening portion 6 and the opening region 8 are provided can be prevented in the both steps. Moreover, since the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 is formed of a TiN layer or a TiW layer, the oxide film is difficult to form on the top surface of the oxidation preventing metal layer 4. Alternatively, the oxide film is thinly formed on the oxidation preventing metal layer 4. In other words, the resistance value above the pad electrode 3 can be reduced by forming the opening portion 6 and the opening region 8 while the top surface of the pad electrode 3 is being coated with the oxidation preventing metal layer 4.
Next, as shown in
Subsequently, here, a photoresist layer 23 is formed except the region where the Cu plated layer 10 is to be formed to pattern the Cu plated layer 10 for lift-off.
Thereafter, as shown in
Then, the Cu plated layer 10 on the Cr layer 21 and the Cu layer 22 is patterned by removing the above-described photoresist layer 23. Furthermore, the Cr layer 21 and the Cu layer 22 are selectively removed by wet etching using the Cu plated layer 10 as a mask. This completes the structure shown in
Note that, although the Cu plated layer 10 is formed on the plating metal layer 9, the Cu layer 22 is practically substituted by the Cu plated layer 10 by electrolytic plating. For this reason, the Cu layer is integrally shown with the Cu plated layer, and only the Cr layer 21 is shown.
In this embodiment, described is the case of preparing the wafer, and of then forming, on the wafer, the insulating layer 2, the pad electrode 3, the oxidation preventing metal layer 4, the shield layer 5, the spin coat resin film 7, the plating metal layer 9 and the Cu plated layer 10. However, the present invention is not limited to the case. For example, the wafer on which the insulating layer 2, the pad electrode 3, the oxidation preventing metal layer 4 and the shield layer 5 are formed is prepared, and the spin coat resin film 7, the plating metal layer 9, the Cu plated layer 10, the bump electrode 13 and the like may be formed.
In this embodiment, also described is the case of depositing the Cu layer 22 on the Cr layer 21 as the plating metal layer 9, but the present invention is not limited to the case. For example, as the plating metal layer 9, a Ti layer or a TiW layer may be used instead of the Cr layer 21, and an Ni layer may be formed instead of the Cu layer 22. When a Ni layer is used, an Au plated layer instead of the Cu plated layer may be formed on the Ni layer. Various other modifications can also be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
In this invention, the formation of the oxidation preventing metal layer on the top surface of the pad electrode considerably reduces the amount of the oxide film on the top surface of the pad electrode. With this structure, the amount of the oxide film is considerably reduced in the current path above the pad electrode, and thus, the resistance value above the pad electrode is reduced.
In addition, in this invention, the oxidation preventing metal layer is formed of a metal layer which is difficult to be oxidized. With this structure, the amounts of the oxide film on top surface of the pad electrode and the top surface of the oxidation preventing metal layer are considerably reduced.
Moreover, in this invention, the use of a chrome layer as the plating metal layer improves the adhesion between the polybenzoxazole film and the electrode.
Furthermore, in this invention, the use of the polybenzoxazole film or the polyimide resin film prevents the deterioration of the semiconductor device caused by the external environment such as moisture.
Additionally, in this invention, the opening region is formed in the spin coat resin film formed above the pad electrode in the state where the oxidation preventing metal layer is formed on the top surface of the pad electrode. With this manufacturing method, the amount of the oxide film on a portion of the pad electrode is reduced, the portion being at the opening region. Consequently, the resistance value above the pad electrode is reduced.
Furthermore, in this invention, the amount of the oxide film on the pad electrode is considerably reduced by depositing the oxidation preventing metal layer directly on a metal layer composing the pad electrode and then selectively removing the both metal layers.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-082434 | Mar 2007 | JP | national |