The Cu diffusion barrier properties of amorphous boron carbonitride (BCxNy) films were studied. The BCxNy films were deposited by chemical vapor deposition at 360C and 1Torr using dimethylamine borane with no reaction gas (BC0.37N0.15), with NH3(BC0.19N0.44), or with C2H4(BC0.90N0.08); their dielectric constants were 4.1, 4.4, and 3.9, respectively. A SiC0.76N0.44 film was used as a benchmark. Barrier films were deposited onto 7nm thermal oxide/n-type Si substrates. The leakage current for BC0.90N0.08, 1.1 x 10–8A/cm2 at 0.5MV/cm, was the lowest of the 3, but it was larger than that of the benchmark SiC0.76N0.44 film, 5.5 x 10–9A/cm2. Time-dependent dielectric breakdown was used to test barrier time-to-failure of Cu-gate capacitors at 150C and +2 to 5MV/cm. BC0.90N0.80 displayed a barrier performance comparable to SiC0.76N0.44 and was noticeably better than BC0.37N0.15 and BC0.19N0.44. Overall, BCxNy barriers were promising and were improved with lower B content, fewer B–B bonds, and increased B–C bonds. Copper Diffusion Barrier Properties of CVD Boron Carbonitride. E.R.Engbrecht, Y.M.Sun, K.H.Junker, J.M.White, J.G.Ekerdt: Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, 2005, 23[2], 463-7