A metallic buried interconnect process for through-wafer interconnection

In this paper, we present the design, fabrication process and experimental results of electroplated metal interconnects buried at the bottom of deep silicon trenches with vertical sidewalls. A manual spray-coating process along with a unique trench-formation process has been developed for the electroplating of a metal interconnection structure at the bottom surface of the deep trenches. The silicon etch process combines the isotropic dry etch process and conventional Bosch process to fabricate a deep trench with angled top-side edges and vertical sidewalls. The resulting trench structure, in contrast to the trenches fabricated by wet anisotropic etching, enables spray-coated photoresist patterning with good sidewall and top-side edge coverage while maintaining the ability to form a high-density array of deep trenches without excessive widening of the trench opening. A photoresist spray-coating process was developed and optimized for the formation of electroplating mold at the bottom of 300 νm deep trenches having vertical sidewalls. A diluted positive tone photoresist with relatively high solid content and multiple coating with baking between coating steps has been experimentally proven to provide high quality sidewall and edge coverage. To validate the buried interconnect approach, a three-dimensional daisy chain structure having a buried interconnect as the bottom connector and traces on the wafer surface as the top conductor has been designed and fabricated.