First-principles high-throughput screening of ruthenium compounds for advanced interconnects

TL;DR

This study uses high-throughput computational screening to identify ruthenium compounds with improved electrical and reliability properties as potential alternatives to copper in shrinking interconnects.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic high-throughput approach to discover Ru-based compounds with superior properties for advanced interconnect applications.

Findings

Identified 61 promising Ru-based compounds with better resistivity scaling.

Demonstrated Ru compounds' potential to surpass copper in reliability and electrical performance.

Provided a large candidate pool for experimental validation and further development.

Abstract

As interconnect dimensions continue to shrink, the industry-standard copper faces a critical increase in resistivity, presenting a significant hurdle to overall device performance. To overcome this limitation, this work investigates the potential of ruthenium (Ru)-based compounds, encompassing binary, ternary, and quaternary systems, as viable alternatives to copper (Cu). Ruthenium is regarded as a strong candidate, owing to its inherent advantages in reliability and more favorable resistivity scaling at reduced dimensions. Moreover, forming compounds offers an effective strategy to engineer novel properties, expanding the material design space beyond the constraints of pure metals. Utilizing a high-throughput screening methodology, we systematically investigated a broad spectrum of 2,106 Ru-based compounds to identify candidates with superior electronic transport and reliability characteristics. Consequently, we successfully identified a total of 61 promising candidates that exhibit excellent resistivity scaling behavior and enhanced reliability. These findings demonstrate that Ru-based compounds offer a viable pathway to overcome the scaling limitations of next-generation interconnects.