Method for conductive film quality evaluation

摘要

A method for monitoring copper film quality and for evaluating the annealing efficiency of a copper annealing process includes measuring hardness of a copper film formed on a substrate before and after annealing and comparing the hardness measurement results. The measurements can be correlated to grain boundary saturation levels, copper grain sizes and therefore conductivity. Hardness measurements may be taken at a plurality of locations throughout the substrate to account for variations in the copper film grain structure.