CONDUCTING TRANSITION-METAL OXIDES - POSSIBILITIES FOR RUO2 IN VLSI METALLIZATION

RuO2 belongs to the group of transition metal dioxides which crystallize in tetragonal rutile structure and have low bulk metallic resistivities ranging from 30 to 100 μΩ-cm. Because of the thermal stability and excellent diffusion barrier properties, they deserve a special notice as metallization alternatives in a variety of VLSI applications. The authors discuss their recent work on characterization of reactively sputtered films of RuO2 and will specifically explore correlations between oxygen-induced stress and their microstructure and diffusion barrier properties.