New fuse structure
An electrical fuse and a method of forming the same are presented. A first-layer conductive line is formed over a base material. A via is formed over the first-layer conductive line. The via preferably comprises a barrier layer and a conductive material. A second-layer conductive line is formed over the via. A first external pad is formed coupling to the first-layer conductive line. A second external pad is formed coupling to the second-layer conductive line. The via, the first conductive line and the second conductive line are adapted to be an electrical fuse. The electrical fuse can be burned out by applying a current. The vertical structure of the preferred embodiment is suitable to be formed in any layer.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/583,637, filed on Jun. 29, 2004, entitled “E-Fuse Structure Design in Electrical Programmable Redundancy for Embedded Memory Circuit,” which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThis invention relates generally to an electrical fuse and more particularly to an electrical fuse having a vertical structure.
BACKGROUNDIn the semiconductor industry, fuse elements are widely used features in integrated circuits for a variety of purposes, such as improving manufacturing yield or customizing a generic integrated circuit. For example, by replacing defective circuits on a chip with redundant circuits on the same chip, manufacturing yields can be significantly increased. Replacing defective circuits is especially useful for improving manufacturing yield of the memory chips since memory chips consist of a lot of identical memory cells and cell groups. By selectively blowing fuses within an integrated circuit that has multiple potential uses, a generic integrated circuit design may be economically manufactured and adapted to a variety of custom uses.
There are two different ways to disconnect fuses: in one way, the disconnection is carried out by the action of a laser beam, and the fuse is referred to as a laser fuse. In another way, the disconnection is carried out by electrical destruction resulting from the production of heat. The fuse is referred as an electrical fuse, or E-fuse.
Laser programmable redundancy has been widely used in large-scale memory devices. However, the laser repair rate in various structures such as in lower level metal layers is low and the process is complex.
In addition, as technology is scaling down to 0.13 μm or below, copper is implemented as interconnects or power lines. Copper is a material with high current density tolerance and is not easily burned out by using a laser gun. Furthermore, the combination of copper plus low-k material 12 (used as inter-layer dielectrics) is becoming a trend to improve RC delay. However, low-k material 12 cracks easily when etching the opening 8 in
Electrical fuses were developed to improve repairable rates.
There are several disadvantages faced by conventional methods of making fuses. Firstly, the repairable rate is typically low. Secondly, the additional masking layer needed for laser repair incurs higher costs. The process is also more complex with higher uncertainty. Thirdly, the structure design is not flexible. Fuses typically have to be designed in higher layers, as it is harder to form deep laser trenches through to lower layers. Therefore, new methods of designing e-fuses are needed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe preferred embodiment of the present invention presents a method of forming an electrical fuse having a vertical structure.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a first-layer conductive line is formed on a base material. A via is formed over the first-layer conductive line. The via preferably comprises a barrier layer and a conductive material. A second-layer conductive line is formed over the via. A first external pad is formed coupling the first-layer conductive line. A second external pad is formed coupling the second-layer conductive line. The via, first conductive line and second conductive line are adapted to be an electrical fuse.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, copper is used in the via, the first-layer conductive line, and the second conductive line. Single or dual damascene processes are used to form the via, the first-layer copper line and the second-layer copper line.
The vertical structure of the preferred embodiment is suitable to be formed in any layer and saves layout space. The embodiments of the present invention have several advantageous features. Firstly, higher repairable rates can be achieved since the burn out process is easier to control and more reliable. Secondly, fewer masking layers are required, therefore reducing costs. Thirdly, the fuse may reside in any region of the inter layer vias for cell size reduction. This provides a flexible structure for circuit design.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFor a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The making and using of the presently preferred embodiments are discussed in detail below. It should be appreciated, however, that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention, and do not limit the scope of the invention.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention present a novel method of forming e-fuses. A via connecting a lower-layer conductive line and an upper-layer conductive line is adapted to be an e-fuse. The e-fuse can be burned out by applying a voltage on external pads that are coupled to the lower-layer conductive line and the upper-layer conductive line. Throughout the description, conductive lines are also referred to as conductive layers.
An ILD layer 42 is formed beside the low-layer conductive line 44. The ILD layer 42 is preferably silicon dioxide deposited using, e.g., tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD), low pressure CVD (LPCVD), or other well-known deposition techniques. ILD 42 can also be other materials such as phospho-silicate glass (PSG) or other known materials. Typically, ILD layer 42 has a low dielectric constant (K value) so that the parasitic capacitance between conductive lines is reduced.
An upper-layer conductive line 58 and an ILD 56 are then formed using the methods mentioned in previous paragraphs, as illustrated in
In another preferred embodiment, the conductive lines and via are formed of copper. Copper has better conductivity and can withstand higher current so that it is widely used for 0.13 μm and below. However, it is hard to etch. Therefore a damascene process is used.
A dual damascene process is preferably performed to form a via and an upper-layer copper line. As shown in
Electrical fuses can be formed at different levels based on the requirements of the circuit design.
The e-fuse structure of the present invention can be non-borderless or borderless.
The current density required for burning out a fuse is dependent on the material of the via and conductive lines, and the process used. One skilled in the art can find the right current density through routine experiment. Table 1 presents exemplary data measured on the vias formed using 90 nm technology.
M1 through M9 are metal lines at different layers, with M9 being the top layer metal, and M1 being the bottom layer metal. Via 1 is between M1 and M2. Via2 is between M2 and M3, and via 8 is between M8 and M9. Typically, M8 and M9 are power lines so that they have the greatest thickness of 0.9 μm, which is the second value found in their dimensions. The dimensions of M1 through M9 indicate width×thickness, and dimensions for vias indicate cross sectional dimensions.
In table 1, Rows marked as M1 through M9 present the current and current density needed to burn out the metal lines. Rows marked as via1 through via8 present the current and current density needed to burn out the vias. The burn-out current density is calculated based on the burn-out current divided by the cross sectional area, which in turn can be calculated from the dimension. While the current density to burn out the via is affected by the material and process, the current for burning out a via is also affected by the cross sectional area. Preferably, the cross sectional area of the via is between about 1×10−4 μm2 to about 1 μm2. By adjusting the cross sectional area for an e-fuse or a portion of an e-fuse, the burn-out current can be adjusted into a desired range. One skilled in the art can take the factors such as the material, process, dimension, current, and current density into consideration so that the structure comprising upper-layer conductive line, lower-layer conductive line and the via is adapted to be an e-fuse.
It is observed that in order to burn out the vias or the metal lines, the required current density is in the order of about 105 A/cm2 to about 106 A/cm2. Although the data shows that the burn-out current density of metal lines are in the same order as, or some times even lower than the burn-out current density of vias, which suggests that the burn-out region should occur in metal lines instead of vias, the experiment results have revealed that the burn-out regions are typically in via or close to the interfaces between the via and metals lines (refer to
There is no special requirement as to the height of a via. The height is preferably determined by the distance between metal layers. This provides flexibility in the design of the fuse since the fuse design can be easily integrated into the chip design without incurring extra processing steps and cost. In a preferred embodiment, the height is between about 500 Å to about 10000 Å.
There are several advantages features provided by the embodiments of the present invention. These include (but are not limited to): first, higher repairable rate can be achieved since the burn out process is easier to control and more reliable. Second, fewer masking layers is required therefore reducing cost. Third, the preferred embodiments provide a flexible structure for circuit designers. The fuse may reside in any region of the inter layer vias for cell size reduction.
Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, and composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.
Claims
1. An electrical fuse comprising:
- a first conductive layer;
- a second conductive layer; and
- a via coupled between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer wherein at least one of the via, the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are adapted to be an electrical fuse.
2. The electrical fuse of claim 1 wherein the electrical fuse further comprises a first external pad coupled to the first conductive layer; and a second external pad coupled to the second conductive layer.
3. The electrical fuse of claim 1 further comprising:
- a third conductive layer; and
- a plurality of vias coupled between the second conductive layer and the third conductive layer.
4. The electrical fuse of claim 3 further comprising:
- an nMOS transistor having a drain coupled to the third conductive layer; and
- a source coupled to a first power supply node wherein the first conductive layer is coupled to a second power supply node.
5. The electrical fuse of claim 1 wherein the via has a cross sectional area of between about 10−4 μm2 and about 1 μm2.
6. The electrical fuse of claim 1 wherein the via has a height of between about 500 Å and about 1 μm.
7. The electrical fuse of claim 1 wherein the via comprises a conductive material and a barrier layer outside the conductive material.
8. The electrical fuse of claim 1 further comprising:
- a plurality of additional vias each in a different layer; and
- a plurality of additional conductive layers wherein the additional vias are coupled in series and each of the additional vias is coupled between two of the additional conductive layers.
9. The electrical fuse of claim 8 further comprising:
- a plurality of external pads each coupled to one of the additional conductive layers.
10. The electrical fuse of claim 1 wherein the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer and the via comprise copper and are formed by a method selected from the group consisting of single damascene process and dual damascene process.
11. The electrical fuse of claim 1 wherein the via is misaligned to the first and/or the second conductive layers.
12. The electrical fuse of claim 12 wherein the misalignment is smaller than about ¾ of the via dimension in the misalignment direction.
13. A semiconductor device comprising:
- a burned-out electrical fuse comprising: a first conductive layer; a second conductive layer; and a via coupled between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer and adapted to be a fuse.
14. The electrical fuse of claim 13 wherein the electrical fuse comprises a first external pad coupled to the first conductive layer; a second external pad coupled to the second conductive layer; and an electrical discontinuity in the via or adjacent the interfaces between the via and the first and the second conductive layers.
15. The electrical fuse of claim 14 further comprising a plurality of vias between the first and the second external pads.
16. The electrical fuse of claim 13 further comprising:
- a third conductive layer; and
- a plurality of vias coupled between the second conductive layer and the third conductive layer wherein the vias are not burned-out.
17. The electrical fuse of claim 13 wherein the via has a cross sectional area of between about 10−4 μm2 and about 1 μm2.
18. A semiconductor device comprising:
- an electrical circuit;
- a redundant circuit having a redundant design of the electrical circuit;
- a first conductive layer;
- a second conductive layer; and
- a first via coupled between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer wherein one of the first and second conductive layers is coupled to the redundant circuit and wherein the first via, the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are adapted to be an electrical fuse.
19. The semiconductor device of claim 18 further comprises a first external pad coupled to the first conductive layer; and a second external pad coupled to the second conductive layer.
20. The semiconductor device of claim 18 further comprising:
- a second via coupled in parallel with the electrical circuit;
- wherein the second via is coupled between a third conductive layer and a fourth conductive layer;
- wherein the second via, the third conductive layer and the fourth conductive layer are adapted to be an electrical fuse;
- a third external pad coupled to the third conductive layer; and
- a fourth external pad coupled to the fourth conductive layer.
Type: Application
Filed: May 25, 2005
Publication Date: Dec 29, 2005
Inventors: Kong-Beng Thei (Hsin-Chu), Chung Cheng (Hsin-Chu), Chung-Shi Liu (Hsin-Chu), Harry Chuang (Austin, TX), Shien-Yang Wu (Hsin-Chu), Shi-Bai Chen (Tai-Chung)
Application Number: 11/137,075