Patent ID: 7202159

Claim:
A method for forming a diffusion barrier layer between a copper metal layer and a silicon substrate comprising the steps of: a) preparing the silicon substrate; b) contacting the silicon substrate with a composition comprising self-assembled monolayer subunits and a solvent; c) removing the solvent thereby forming the diffusion barrier; and d) forming a copper metal layer on the diffusion barrier as formed in step (c) using a vapor deposition process, said diffusion barrier inhibiting copper diffusion into the substrate, wherein the self-assembled monolayer subunit is of the following structure: wherein Y is an O-alkyl group, and wherein R 2 is a group selected from and wherein R 3 , R 4 and R 5 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl groups, heteroalkyl groups, halo groups, NH 2 , NHR 6 , NR 6 R 7 , OH, OR 6 , SH, SR 6 , CHO, COOH and CN, and wherein R 6 and R 7 are alkyl groups, and wherein n is an integer ranging from 1 to 5.