Ion metal plasma (IMP) deposited titanium liners for 0.25/0.18 mu m multilevel interconnections

An inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source is used to produce an ion metal plasma (IMP) in the PVD chamber which has excellent directionality. Compared to collimated PVD titanium liners the electrical results of 0.3 mu m contact and via structures processed with IMP deposited titanium liners show significantly improved parametrics. Due to the high bottom coverage of the IMP titanium deposition process a substantial reduction in the liner thickness is possible. Plasma damage studies using MOS capacitor structures connected to large antennae show no differences in leakage currents using the high density plasma titanium liners and the conventional collimated PVD titanium liners.