Calculation of Cu/Ta interface electron transmission and effect on conductivity in nanoscale interconnect technology

Resistivity augmentation in nanoscale metal interconnects is a performance limiting factor in integrated circuits. Here we present calculations of electron scattering and transmission at the interface between Cu interconnects and their barrier layers, in this case Ta. We also present a semiclassical model to predict the technological impact of this scattering and find that a barrier layer can significantly decrease conductivity, consistent with previously published measurements.(C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. (doi:10.1063/1.3257700