Patent ID: 8609531

Claim:
A method, comprising: forming a trench/via in a layer insulating material; forming a metal-containing material layer in said trench/via; forming a sacrificial material layer above said metal-containing material layer so as to over-fill said trench/via with said sacrificial material; performing at least one process operation so as to remove portions of said metal-containing material layer and said sacrificial material layer positioned above an upper surface of said layer of insulating material and outside of said trench/via; removing said sacrificial material from within said trench/via so as to expose said metal-containing material layer positioned within said trench/via; selectively forming a material layer comprising a noble metal on said exposed metal-containing material layer positioned within said trench/via without forming said material layer comprising a noble metal on said layer of insulating material; performing an anneal process so as to convert said metal-containing material layer positioned within said trench/via into a metal-based silicate barrier layer; and forming a conductive copper structure in at least said trench/via above said material layer comprising said noble metal.