Passivation of copper surfaces for selective-area ALD using a thiol self-assembled monolayer

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of 1-dodecanethiol (CH3(CH2)(11)SH) were prepared from the vapor phase and used as a passivation layer for selective-area ALD. Thiol SAMs have commonly been prepared by immersing the substrates into a solution containing alkyl thiols. Formation of SAMs from the vapor phase, however, has advantages compared to liquid phase preparation. Passivation of surface can be done as a part of the ALD process forming a SAM first and then continuing with the common ALD process. SAMs can also be applied to three-dimensional structures relying on chemical selectivity of the thiol SAM formation. For example in the copper damascene process the thiol SAMs should form only on the copper surface but not on the insulators. In this study, the SAMs were prepared by placing the substrate and the alkylthiol to the reaction chamber and heating the system to the temperature of 73 degrees C. Preparation time varied from 0.5 to 24 h. Passivation properties of SAMs were tested with ALD iridium and polyimide processes. Iridium was deposited at 250 degrees C for 500 cycles and polyimide at 160 degrees C for 20 cycles.