Graphene-copper co-deposition device

Abstract

The invention discloses a graphene-copper co-deposition device, which comprises a metal deposition unit, a copper deposition unit, a copper deposition unit and a copper deposition unit, the graphene deposition unit is used for realizing graphene growth and deposition; and a sample transfer unit; wherein the metal deposition unit and the graphene deposition unit are located in the same deposition chamber, the sample transmission unit is used for realizing controllable transmission of a sample between the sample introduction chamber and the deposition chamber, and the graphene-copper co-deposition device can realize independent deposition and co-deposition of graphene and copper. According to the graphene-copper co-deposition device provided by the invention, a prepared copper film material has ultrahigh graphene content and improved conductivity, the conductivity even reaches up to 110% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard), the copper film material has relatively high fusing current, and the device remarkably improves the conductivity of a copper film.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of material preparation and device research and development, and in particular to a graphene-copper co-deposition device. Background Art

[0002] The development of highly conductive copper materials is crucial for improving energy efficiency, advancing materials science, expanding industrial applications, promoting technological innovation, and safeguarding national security. In high-tech sectors such as aerospace and defense, the application of high-performance materials is directly linked to national security and strategic interests. Recent research has shown that the structure and distribution of graphene within a metal matrix significantly influences the material's electrical conductivity.

[0003] With the development of large-scale integrated circuit technology, the requirements for material performance are increasing. Highly conductive copper thin films are of great significance in reducing energy consumption and improving circuit efficiency and stability. The introduction of highly conductive thin film materials helps reduce conductor losses, meet high-frequency and high-speed requirements, reduce RC delay, and improve circuit response speed and operating frequency. However, existing copper thin film preparation technologies suffer from low conductivity.

[0004] A Chinese invention patent (CN 119170344 A) discloses a technical solution for growing graphene on a copper foil surface and thermally depositing a copper film. This method involves repeatedly depositing copper and graphene on a macroscopic commercial copper foil of a certain thickness (typically greater than 25 microns). The deposited copper foil is then hot-pressed to produce a macroscopic bulk material for application. A Chinese invention patent (CN114959697 A) discloses a method for repeatedly depositing a copper film and graphene on a macroscopic copper foil (greater than 30 microns thick) using magnetron sputtering. The resulting copper foil also requires high-temperature hot pressing to become conductive.

[0005] In short, the existing copper thin film preparation technology requires high-temperature hot pressing of copper foil to make it conductive, and can only produce macroscopic blocks, so it cannot meet the future integrated circuit's demand for high conductivity of metallic copper. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a graphene-copper co-deposition device to solve the problem that the existing copper thin film preparation technology requires high-temperature hot pressing of copper foil to make it conductive, and can only produce macroscopic blocks, thus failing to meet the future integrated circuit's demand for high conductivity of metallic copper.

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0008] The present invention provides a graphene-copper co-deposition device, which includes: a metal deposition unit for realizing metal deposition; a graphene deposition unit for realizing graphene growth deposition; and a sample transmission unit; wherein the metal deposition unit and the graphene deposition unit are located in the same deposition chamber, the sample transmission unit is used to realize controllable transmission of the sample between the injection chamber and the deposition chamber, and the graphene-copper co-deposition device can realize independent deposition and co-deposition of graphene and copper.

[0009] According to the present invention, the metal deposition unit includes a metal deposition module, and the metal deposition module deposits metal by thermal evaporation or electron beam evaporation.

[0010] According to the present invention, the graphene deposition unit includes: a deposition heating module for providing a temperature environment required for graphene growth; a gas control module for controlling the introduction of a gaseous carbon source; and a temperature control module.

[0011] According to the present invention, the gas control module realizes the control of the gas carbon source, and the gas carbon source is selected from: one of methane, ethylene, acetylene or any combination of the foregoing gases.

[0012] According to the present invention, the temperature control range of the temperature control module is 300-1050°C.

[0013] According to the graphene-copper co-deposition device provided by the present invention, copper and graphene can be deposited separately, or copper and graphene can be deposited simultaneously.

[0014] To address the problem that existing copper thin film preparation technology cannot meet the high conductivity requirements of metallic copper for future integrated circuits, the inventors have proposed a method for preparing a highly conductive graphene-copper alloy material based on co-deposition. While copper is deposited on the surface of an insulating substrate, a carbon source gas is introduced into the deposition chamber and the pressure is maintained, thereby depositing graphene on the copper surface, ultimately producing a graphene-copper alloy material. To implement this method, the inventors have specifically designed a graphene-copper co-deposition apparatus that can achieve co-deposition growth of graphene and metallic copper, thereby significantly increasing the graphene content in the copper and producing a highly conductive graphene-copper material. Although graphene and copper deposition equipment are already available in the prior art, there is currently no device that can deposit graphene and copper simultaneously.

[0015] The device developed according to the present invention enables the simultaneous deposition of metal and graphene, and a graphene-copper alloy material can be produced using this device. Notably, the graphene content of the material produced using this device exceeds that of graphene-copper materials produced using other existing methods, and a discrete distribution of graphene within the metallic copper is also achieved. However, prior to this invention, no technique combining these two functional technologies to achieve this co-deposition growth of copper and graphene had ever been developed in the art. This inventive method is not disclosed in any prior art, nor can it be derived by those skilled in the art through simple deduction, modification, or limited experimentation based on existing techniques. Those skilled in the art typically grow copper separately and then grow graphene on top of it. Even with this simple combination, it is difficult to achieve simultaneous co-deposition growth. This co-deposition growth is difficult to achieve, requiring not only hardware integration but also process matching. The most important aspect of the device designed according to the invention is that it can produce highly conductive graphene-copper materials, significantly improving the material's electrical conductivity, rather than simply growing either copper or graphene.

[0016] In summary, according to the graphene-copper co-deposition device provided by the present invention, the copper thin film material prepared has an ultra-high graphene content and improved electrical conductivity, with the electrical conductivity even reaching 110% IACS, and has a higher fusing current, indicating that the device and method significantly improve the electrical conductivity of the copper film. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a graphene-copper co-deposition device provided according to the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 This is a digital photo of the graphene-copper co-deposited thin film material in Example 1;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a digital photo of the graphene-copper co-deposited thin film material in Example 2;

[0020] Figure 4 This is a digital photo of the graphene-copper co-deposited thin film material in Example 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The present invention is further described below with reference to specific examples. It should be understood that the following examples are intended only to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The raw materials and instruments used in the following examples are all commercially available; the equipment and preparation processes used are conventional equipment and conventional processes unless otherwise specified.

[0022] The present invention provides a graphene-copper co-deposition device, which includes: a metal deposition unit 10, a graphene deposition unit 20 and a sample transmission unit 30; wherein the metal deposition unit 10 has a metal deposition function, the graphene deposition unit 20 has a graphene growth deposition function, and the sample transmission unit 30 has a sample transmission function. The metal deposition unit 10 and the graphene deposition unit 20 are located in the same deposition chamber 40, and the sample transmission unit 30 is used to achieve controllable transmission of the sample between the injection chamber 50 and the deposition chamber 40. The device can achieve independent deposition of graphene and copper, and can also achieve co-deposition of graphene and copper.

[0023] According to the present invention, the metal deposition unit 10 includes a metal deposition module 11 , and the graphene deposition unit 20 includes a deposition heating module 21 and a gas control module 22 .

[0024] Example 1

[0025] A two-inch wafer is transferred into the growth chamber of the co-deposition apparatus via the sample transfer unit 30. The metal deposition unit 10 is activated to deposit metallic copper onto the sapphire substrate, while the graphene deposition unit 20 is simultaneously activated to grow graphene on the deposited copper surface. This achieves the effect of simultaneously depositing copper and growing graphene on the sapphire substrate. The copper film deposition rate in the metal deposition unit 10 is 5 nm / s; the graphene growth temperature in the graphene deposition unit 20 is 1000°C, methane is introduced at a pressure of 50 Pa, and deposition takes 60 minutes. The metal deposition unit 10 and the graphene deposition unit 20 are then shut down and cooled to room temperature to obtain a graphene-copper co-deposited thin film material.

[0026] The electrical conductivity of the material can be determined by the four-probe method and the step profiler. The conductivity of the prepared graphene-copper co-deposited thin film material was measured to be 110.2% IACS.

[0027] Example 2

[0028] A two-inch wafer is transferred to the growth chamber of the co-deposition apparatus via the sample transfer unit 30. The metal deposition unit 10 is activated to deposit metallic copper onto the sapphire substrate, while the graphene deposition unit 20 is simultaneously activated to grow graphene on the deposited copper surface, thereby achieving the effect of simultaneously depositing copper and growing graphene on the sapphire substrate. The copper film deposition rate in the metal deposition unit 10 is 5 nm / s; the graphene growth temperature in the graphene deposition unit 20 is 950°C, methane is introduced at a pressure of 50 Pa, and deposition takes 60 minutes. The metal deposition unit 10 and the graphene deposition unit 20 are then shut down and cooled to room temperature to obtain a graphene-copper co-deposited thin film material.

[0029] The electrical conductivity of the material can be determined using a four-probe method and a step profiler. The conductivity of the prepared graphene-copper co-deposited thin film material was measured to be 108.5% IACS. Compared to Example 1, the graphene deposition temperature was reduced to 950°C.

[0030] Example 3

[0031] A two-inch wafer is transferred into the growth chamber of the co-deposition apparatus via the sample transfer unit 30. The metal deposition unit 10 is activated to deposit metallic copper onto the sapphire substrate, while the graphene deposition unit 20 is simultaneously activated to grow graphene on the deposited copper surface. This achieves the effect of simultaneously depositing copper and growing graphene on the sapphire substrate. The copper film deposition rate in the metal deposition unit 10 is 5 nm / s; the graphene growth temperature in the graphene deposition unit 20 is 900°C, methane is introduced at a pressure of 50 Pa, and deposition takes 60 minutes. The metal deposition unit 10 and the graphene deposition unit 20 are then shut down and cooled to room temperature to obtain a graphene-copper co-deposited thin film material.

[0032] The electrical conductivity of the material can be determined by the four-probe method and the step profiler. The conductivity of the graphene-copper co-deposited material prepared above was measured to be 105.5% IACS. Compared with Example 1, the graphene deposition temperature was reduced to 900°C.

[0033] Comparative Example 1

[0034] A two-inch wafer was transferred into the growth chamber of the co-deposition apparatus via the sample transfer unit 30. The metal deposition unit 10 was activated to deposit copper onto the sapphire substrate. The copper film deposition rate in the metal deposition unit 10 was 5 nm / s, the pressure was 50 Pa, and the deposition time was 60 minutes. The graphene deposition unit 20 was not activated during the entire process. The metal deposition unit 10 was then shut down and the temperature was cooled to room temperature to obtain a copper thin film material.

[0035] The electrical conductivity of the material can be determined using a four-probe method and a step profiler. The conductivity of the graphene-copper co-deposited material prepared above was measured to be 100.2% IACS. Compared to Example 1, only the copper film was deposited, and no graphene was deposited.

[0036] Comparative Example 2

[0037] A two-inch wafer was placed through a sample into a copper thin film deposition apparatus at a deposition rate of 5 nm / s and a pressure of 50 Pa for 60 minutes. The copper film was then transferred to a graphene deposition apparatus for graphene deposition. After completion, the temperature was lowered to room temperature to produce a graphene-copper thin film material.

[0038] The electrical conductivity of the material can be determined by the four-probe method and the step profiler. After measurement, the conductivity of the prepared graphene-copper co-deposition material reached 98.2% IACS. The difference compared with Example 1 is that two non-co-deposition devices were used in this comparative example, one for depositing only copper film and the other for depositing only graphene. The experimental data showed that the conductivity was not improved, but was only the conductivity of ordinary copper foil. This shows that after the co-deposition device combines the two functions, it can achieve a significant improvement in the performance of the prepared material under appropriate process conditions.

[0039] According to the graphene-copper co-deposition device provided by the present invention, the conductivity measurement results of the copper thin film materials prepared in Examples 1-3 and Comparative Examples 1-2 are shown in Table 1 below. As can be seen from Table 1, the conductivity of the copper film obtained by the device according to the present invention is generally improved, even as high as 110.2% IACS, and has a higher fusing current, indicating that the device and method significantly improve the conductivity of the copper film.

[0040] Table 1 Conductivity measurement results of Examples 1-3 and Comparative Examples

[0041] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Various modifications are possible. Any simple, equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the claims and description of the present invention are within the scope of protection of the patent claims. Anything not fully described in this invention is conventional technology.

Claims

1. A graphene-copper co-deposition device, characterized in that: The graphene-copper co-deposition device comprises: A metal deposition unit, used for achieving metal deposition; A graphene deposition unit, used to achieve graphene growth and deposition; and Sample transfer unit; The metal deposition unit and the graphene deposition unit are located in the same deposition chamber, the sample transmission unit is used to realize the controllable transmission of the sample between the injection chamber and the deposition chamber, and the graphene-copper co-deposition device can realize the independent deposition and co-deposition of graphene and copper.

2. The graphene-copper co-deposition device according to claim 1, characterized in that The metal deposition unit includes a metal deposition module, and the metal deposition module deposits metal by thermal evaporation or electron beam evaporation.

3. The graphene-copper co-deposition device according to claim 1, characterized in that The graphene deposition unit comprises: Deposition heating module, used to provide the temperature environment required for graphene growth; A gas control module, used to control the introduction of a gaseous carbon source; and Temperature control module.

4. The graphene-copper co-deposition device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The gas control module realizes the control of the gas carbon source, and the gas carbon source is selected from: one of methane, ethylene, acetylene or any combination of the above gases.

5. The graphene-copper co-deposition device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The temperature control range of the temperature control module is 300-1050°C.

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