Detailed microstructural investigation of ion beam deposited giant magnetoresistance ~GMR! spin valves has been carried out using various techniques of transmission electron microscopy ~TEM! and x-ray diffraction. Two fcc phases, i.e., FeMn and NiFe/Co/Cu/Co/NiFe have been identified in ion-beam deposited Ta ~50 Å!/FeMn ~80 Å!/NiFe~30 Å!/Co~15 Å!/Cu~33 Å!/Co~15 Å!/NiFe~60 Å!/Ta~25 Å!/Si~001! sp...

The integration of Cu interconnections will require sophisticated structures to prevent Cu from coming into contact with devices. The barriers for Cu also must have good adhesion with dielectric and Cu, and yield desirable microstructure of Cu. This paper discusses several critical barrier requirements and compares the properties of Ta and Ti/TiN barrier systems.

Aluminum and copper interconnects are widely used for microelectronic applications. A problem can arise when interfacial oxides are present. Such oxides can significantly degrade device performance by increasing electrical resistance. This paper describes analyses of interfacial oxide layers found in Al/Ta and Ta/Cu metal stacks. The analyses were performed through transmission electron microsc...

Alloy design coupled with metal additive manufacturing (AM) opens many opportunities for materials innovation. Investigating the effect of printing parameters alloy is essential to achieve good part quality. Among different factors, laser absorptivity, heat diffusivity, and in situ intermetallic phase formations are critical. In this study, first step employed was a reduction Al V contents Ti6A...

Molecular dynamics simulations with a semiempirical interatomic potential predict the existence of a thermodynamically stable colloidal structure with nanometer-size Ta particles suspended in liquid Cu. The thermodynamic stability of this structure against coarsening, coalescence or transformation to a homogeneous solution is explained by a negative and strongly curvature-dependent tension of t...

This paper reviews the influence of alloying elements Mo, Nb, Ta and Ni on glass formation and corrosion resistance of Cu-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs). In order to obtain basic knowledge for application to the industry, corrosion resistance of the Cu-Hf-Ti-(Mo, Nb, Ta, Ni) and Cu-Zr-Ag-Al-(Nb) bulk glassy alloy systems in various solutions are reported in this work. Moreover, X-ray photoe...

Epitaxial copper layers, 20 nm to 1.5m-thick, were grown on MgO 001 by ultrahigh vacuum magnetron sputter deposition at 80 °C. In situ electrical resistivity measurements indicate partial specular scattering at the Cu vacuum interface with a Fuchs–Sondheimer scattering parameter p =0.6 0.1. In situ deposition of 0.3 to 7.0-nm-thick Ta cap layers on the Cu surfaces leads to a resistivity increas...