NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
A Modified Damascene Electrodeposition Process for Bottom-up Filling of Recessed Surface Features
Published
Author(s)
Chang H. Lee, Thomas P. Moffat
Abstract
A modification of the conventional Damascene metallization process is described whereby selective removal of the thin wetting/seed layer from the sidewalls and free surfaces enables selective nucleation and bottom-up electrodeposition of metals and alloys in recessed surface features. The process is demonstrated by filling sub-micrometer trenches with electrodeposited Ni. A conventional PVD Cu seed layer is briefly etched to remove Cu from the sidewalls and free surface while leaving a continuous Cu wetting layer intact on the trench bottom. The underlying non-wetting barrier layer provides a conductive path for electrodeposition from contacts on the perimeter of the work piece. The robustness of the bottom-up Ni electrodeposition process is greatly increased by the addition of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole (MBI) to the plating bath. The additive prevents spurious nucleation of Ni on residual Cu patches that may remain on the free surface.
Lee, C.
and Moffat, T.
(2010),
A Modified Damascene Electrodeposition Process for Bottom-up Filling of Recessed Surface Features, Electrochimica ACTA
(Accessed October 2, 2025)