Characterization of reactively sputtered ruthenium dioxide for very large scale integrated metallization

We have investigated reactively sputtered films of RuO2 for possible application in very large scale integrated circuits. Sputtering yields stoichiometric ruthenium dioxide in a large window of oxygen pressures and the films are reasonably low stressed in the 10-9 dyn cm -2 range. The resistivity of as deposited films is 40 μΩ cm. The films are excellent barriers against interdiffusion of Si and Al.