Lifetime RC time delay of on-chip copper interconnect

Increasing resistance and RC time delay induced by an oxidation in a copper line during its lifetime may limit copper-based metallization for technologies with critical dimension. Based on the mechanisms of resistance, constriction resistance and material diffusion, two dynamic models to access lifetime behavior of resistance and RC time delay were developed and discussed. These models also provide a means to gain insight into the correlation between the resistance and RC time delay of copper interconnect and such key variables as feature dimension, operating condition, and oxidation.