Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Materials for interconnects

  • Review Article
  • Published:
MRS Bulletin Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The electrical resistance of interconnect wires increases with decreasing size, causing signal delay and energy consumption that limits further downscaling of integrated circuits. Electron scattering at surfaces and grain-boundaries of current-technology Cu and Co conductors causes the resistivity of narrow lines to be an order of magnitude above bulk values. New materials systems and processing methods are required that mitigate this resistivity size effect and yield narrow high-conductivity lines. Promising research directions include (1) new materials with a small electron mean free path such that electron scattering at surfaces and grain-boundaries becomes negligible, (2) two-dimensional materials as new liner/barrier layers that maximize the conductor cross-sectional area and facilitate specular surface scattering, and (3) topological metals which exhibit an increasing conductivity with decreasing line width due to protected surface states that suppress electron scattering.

Graphic abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. D.H. Albonesi, A. Kodi, V. Stojanovic, Workshop on Emerging Technologies for Interconnects Final Report (Washington, DC, February 2–3, 2012). http://oucsace.cs.ohio.edu/~weti/WETI_Report.pdf.

  2. D. Gall, J. Appl. Phys. 127, 050901 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. A. Yeoh, A. Madhavan, N. Kybert, S. Anand, J. Shin, M. Asoro, S. Samarajeewa, J. Steigerwald, C. Ganpule, M. Buehler, A. Tripathi, V. Souw, M. Haran, S. Nigam, V. Chikarmane, P. Yashar, T. Mulé, Y. Wu, K. Lee, M. Aykol, K. Marla, P. Sinha, S. Kirby, H. Hiramatsu, W. Han, M. Mori, M. Sharma, H. Jeedigunta, M. Sprinkle, C. Pelto, M. Tanniru, G. Leatherman, K. Fischer, I. Post, C. Auth, 2018 IEEE International Interconnect Technology Conference (IITC), (Santa Clara, CA, June 4–7, 2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/iitc.2018.8430489

  4. C.-L. Lo, B.A. Helfrecht, Y. He, D.M. Guzman, N. Onofrio, S. Zhang, D. Weinstein, A. Strachan, Z. Chen, J. Appl. Phys. 128, 080903 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. D. Gall, J. Appl. Phys. 119, 085101 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. J.S. Chawla, F. Zahid, H. Guo, D. Gall, Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 132106 (2010)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. E. Milosevic, D. Gall, AIP Adv. 10, 055213 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. E. Milosevic, D. Gall, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 66, 2692 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. A. Jog, D. Gall, J. Appl. Phys. 130, 000000 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. L. Lu, Y. Shen, X. Chen, L. Qian, K. Lu, Science 304, 422 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. M. Cesar, D.P. Liu, D. Gall, H. Guo, Phys. Rev. Appl. 2, 044007 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. A. Jog, T. Zhou, D. Gall, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 68, 257 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. D. Gall, A. Jog, T. Zhou, 2020 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) (San Francisco, December 12–18, 2020). https://doi.org/10.1109/IEDM13553.2020.9372060

  14. L. Chen, S. Kumar, M. Yahagi, D. Ando, Y. Sutou, D. Gall, R. Sundararaman, J. Koike, J. Appl. Phys. 129, 035301 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. L.H. Chen, D. Ando, Y. Sutou, D. Gall, J. Koike, Appl. Phys. Lett. 113, 183503 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. L. Chen, D. Ando, Y. Sutou, S. Yokogawa, J. Koike, Appl. Surf. Sci. 497, 143810 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. K. Sankaran, K. Moors, Z. Tőkei, C. Adelmann, G. Pourtois, Phys. Rev. Mater. 5, 056002 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. M. Zhang, S. Kumar, R. Sundararaman, D. Gall, J. Appl. Phys. 130, 034302 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. M.W. Barsoum, Prog. Solid State Chem. 28, 201 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. D. Choi, X. Liu, P.K. Schelling, K.R. Coffey, K. Barmak, J. Appl. Phys. 115, 104308 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. P.Y. Zheng, D. Gall, J. Appl. Phys. 122, 135301 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. R.C. Munoz, C. Arenas, Appl. Phys. Rev. 4, 011102 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. T.J. Zhou, D. Gall, Phys. Rev. B 97, 165406 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. R. Mehta, S. Chugh, Z. Chen, Nanoscale 9, 1827 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. C.L. Lo, M. Catalano, K.K.H. Smithe, L.H. Wang, S.J. Zhang, E. Pop, M.J. Kim, Z.H. Chen, npj 2D Mater Appl. 1, 42 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. C.L. Lo, M. Catalano, A. Khosravi, W. Ge, Y. Ji, D.Y. Zemlyanov, L. Wang, R. Addou, Y. Liu, R.M. Wallace, M.J. Kim, Z. Chen, Adv. Mater. 31, 1902397 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. C.-L. Lo, M. Catalano, A. Khosravi, W. Ge, Y. Ji, D. Zemlyanov, L. Wang, R. Addou, Y. Liu, R. Wallace, M. Kim, Z. Chen, presented at the IEEE International Interconnect Technology Conference, Brussels, Belgium, June 3–6, 2019

  28. R. Mehta, S. Chugh, Z. Chen, Nano Lett. 15, 2024 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. T. Shen, D. Valencia, Q. Wang, K.-C. Wang, M. Povolotskyi, M.J. Kim, G. Klimeck, Z. Chen, J. Appenzeller, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 11, 28345 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. S. Chugh, R. Mehta, N. Lu, F.D. Dios, M.J. Kim, Z. Chen, Carbon 93, 393 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. C.L. Lo, K. Zhang, R. Scott Smith, K. Shah, J.A. Robinson, Z. Chen, IEEE Electron Device Lett. 39, 873 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. A. Kozhakhmetov, R. Torsi, C.Y. Chen, J.A. Robinson, J. Phys. 4, 012001 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  33. R. Zhao, C.L. Lo, F. Zhang, R.K. Ghosh, T. Knobloch, M. Terrones, Z. Chen, J. Robinson, Adv. Mater. Interfaces 6, 1901055 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. L. Li, X. Chen, C. Wang, S. Lee, J. Cao, S. S. Roy, M. S. Arnold, H. P. Wong, 2015 Symposium on VLSI Technology (VLSI Technology) (IEEE, Kyoto, Japan, June 16–18, 2015). https://doi.org/10.1109/VLSIT.2015.7223713

  35. C. L. Lo, S. Zhang, T. Shen, J. Appenzeller, Z. Chen, 2017 75th Annual Device Research Conference (DRC) (IEEE, South Bend, IN, June 25–28, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/DRC.2017.7999485

  36. J.H. Bong, S.J. Yoon, A. Yoon, W.S. Hwang, B.J. Cho, Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 063112 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. H. Zhang, C.-X. Liu, X.-L. Qi, X. Dai, Z. Fang, S.-C. Zhang, Nat. Phys. 5, 438 (2009)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. B. Bradlyn, L. Elcoro, J. Cano, M.G. Vergniory, Z. Wang, C. Felser, M.I. Aroyo, B.A. Bernevig, Nature 547, 298 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. H.C. Po, A. Vishwanath, H. Watanabe, Nat. Commun. 8, 50 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. H.J. Han, D. Hynek, Z. Wu, L. Wang, P. Liu, J.V. Pondick, S. Yazdani, J.M. Woods, M. Yarali, Y. Xie, H. Wang, J.J. Cha, APL Mater. 8, 011103 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. C. Zhang, Z. Ni, J. Zhang, X. Yuan, Y. Liu, Y. Zou, Z. Liao, Y. Du, A. Narayan, H. Zhang, T. Gu, X. Zhu, L. Pi, S. Sanvito, X. Han, J. Zou, Y. Shi, X. Wan, S.Y. Savrasov, F. Xiu, Nat. Mater. 18, 482 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. C. T. Chen, U. Bajpai, N. A. Lanzillo, C. H. Hsu, H. Lin, G. Liang, 2020 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) (San Francisco, December 12–28, 2020). https://doi.org/10.1109/IEDM13553.2020.9371996

  43. W. Jiang, H. Huang, F. Liu, J.-P. Wang, T. Low, Phys. Rev. B 101, 121113 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. J.A. Steinberg, S.M. Young, S. Zaheer, C.L. Kane, E.J. Mele, A.M. Rappe, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 036403 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. N. Kumar, Y. Sun, M. Nicklas, S.J. Watzman, O. Young, I. Leermakers, J. Hornung, J. Klotz, J. Gooth, K. Manna, V. Süß, S.N. Guin, T. Förster, M. Schmidt, L. Muechler, B. Yan, P. Werner, W. Schnelle, U. Zeitler, J. Wosnitza, S.S.P. Parkin, C. Felser, C. Shekhar, Nat. Commun. 10, 2475 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Y. Qi, P.G. Naumov, M.N. Ali, C.R. Rajamathi, W. Schnelle, O. Barkalov, M. Hanfland, S.-C. Wu, C. Shekhar, Y. Sun, V. Süß, M. Schmidt, U. Schwarz, E. Pippel, P. Werner, R. Hillebrand, T. Förster, E. Kampert, S. Parkin, R.J. Cava, C. Felser, B. Yan, S.A. Medvedev, Nat. Commun. 7, 11038 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. T. Liang, Q. Gibson, M.N. Ali, M. Liu, R.J. Cava, N.P. Ong, Nat. Mater. 14, 280 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. R. Amarnath, K.S. Bhargavi, S.S. Kubakaddi, J. Phys. 32, 225704 (2020)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. C. Shekhar, A.K. Nayak, Y. Sun, M. Schmidt, M. Nicklas, I. Leermakers, U. Zeitler, Y. Skourski, J. Wosnitza, Z. Liu, Y. Chen, W. Schnelle, H. Borrmann, Y. Grin, C. Felser, B. Yan, Nat. Phys. 11, 645 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. A. G. Chiariello, G. Miano, A. Maffucci, 19th Topical Meeting on Electrical Performance of Electronic Packaging and Systems (IEEE, Austin, TX, October 25–27, 2010). https://doi.org/10.1109/EPEPS.2010.5642555

  51. A. Pyzyna, H. Tsai, M. Lofaro, L. Gignac, H. Miyazoe, R. Bruce, C. M. Breslin, M. Brink, D. Klaus, M. Guillorn, C. Lavoie, K. P. Rodbell, D.-G. Park, E. Joseph, 2017 IEEE International Interconnect Technology Conference (IITC) (Hsinchu, Taiwan, May 16–28, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/IITC-AMC.2017.7968982

  52. N. Kumar, Y. Sun, N. Xu, K. Manna, M. Yao, V. Süss, I. Leermakers, O. Young, T. Förster, M. Schmidt, H. Borrmann, B. Yan, U. Zeitler, M. Shi, C. Felser, C. Shekhar, Nat. Commun. 8, 1642 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Y. Luo, H. Li, Y.M. Dai, H. Miao, Y.G. Shi, H. Ding, A.J. Taylor, D.A. Yarotski, R.P. Prasankumar, J.D. Thompson, Appl. Phys. Lett. 107, 182411 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. M.N. Ali, J. Xiong, S. Flynn, J. Tao, Q.D. Gibson, L.M. Schoop, T. Liang, N. Haldolaarachchige, M. Hirschberger, N.P. Ong, R.J. Cava, Nature 514, 205 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  55. Y. Li, L. Li, J. Wang, T. Wang, X. Xu, C. Xi, C. Cao, J. Dai, Phys. Rev. B 94, 121115 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. J.B. He, D. Chen, W.L. Zhu, S. Zhang, L.X. Zhao, Z.A. Ren, G.F. Chen, Phys. Rev. B 95, 195165 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. P.Y. Zheng, R.P. Deng, D. Gall, Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 131603 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. P.Y. Zheng, T.J. Zhou, D. Gall, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 31, 055005 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. J.G. Analytis, R.D. McDonald, S.C. Riggs, J.-H. Chu, G.S. Boebinger, I.R. Fisher, Nat. Phys. 6, 960 (2010)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. X. Xu, X. Wang, T.A. Cochran, D.S. Sanchez, G. Chang, I. Belopolski, G. Wang, Y. Liu, H.-J. Tien, X. Gui, W. Xie, M.Z. Hasan, T.-R. Chang, S. Jia, Phys. Rev. B 100, 045104 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by IMPACT, a center in nCORE, a Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) program, and by NEWLIMITS, a center in nCORE, a SRC program sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) through Award No. 70nANB17H041.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, USA

    Daniel Gall & Ravishankar Sundararaman

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Yale University, New Haven, USA

    Judy J. Cha & Hyeuk-Jin Han

  3. Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA

    Zhihong Chen

  4. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, USA

    Christopher Hinkle

  5. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA

    Joshua A. Robinson & Riccardo Torsi

Authors
  1. Daniel Gall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Judy J. Cha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zhihong Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hyeuk-Jin Han
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Christopher Hinkle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Joshua A. Robinson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ravishankar Sundararaman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Riccardo Torsi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Gall.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gall, D., Cha, J.J., Chen, Z. et al. Materials for interconnects. MRS Bulletin 46, 959–966 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-021-00192-3

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-021-00192-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation