Patent ID: 7084060

Claim:
A method of forming a capping layer over a metal wire structure of a semiconductor device, the method comprising the steps of: providing a partially fabricated semiconductor device having exposed surfaces of the metal wire structure and a dielectric around the metal wire structure; activating the exposed surface of the metal wire structure by forming a seed layer thereon by reacting the metal wire structure with at least one of the following: a) ammonia, b) an ammonia/oxygen mixture and c) at least one of the following reactive organic compounds: an amine, a thiol, a phosphine and an acetylene; masking the exposed surface of the dielectric by exposing the dielectric to a reagent to form a self-assembled monolayer of hydrophobic, inert masking layer over the dielectric; and forming the capping layer over the metal wire structure by performing a selective atomic layer deposition of a capping layer material onto the metal wire structure.