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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Time Traveler who wrote (51653)	3/5/1999 11:24:00 AM
From: Shane Geary	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573433

Re: "This process features 7 layers of metal including the first layer of local interconnects. This LI layer appears to be of different material than the other 6 layers of metal." The local interconnect will be tungsten (used for VERY local routing due to the high sheet res.) The top 2 layers are thicker to accommodate (i) power supply (high currents) and (ii) to reduce RC delay for global routing. Nothing unusual there - in fact is it true to say that the only major unusual/unkown about the backend of the CMOS7S process is what barrier/seed layer is used for the Cu interconnect? The seed/barrier layer(s) are the key to Cu interconnect integration due to the very high diffusivity of Cu atoms. Tantalum or Tantalum-Nitride are the best known. "The metal seal and barrier also appear very thin." If you mean the seed/barrier layer (ie under the Cu lines), then the key to maximising the benefits of Cu interconnect is to keep the (high resistivity) barrier as thin as possible while maintaining the barrier integrity. I haven't seen the ICE report however.