Patent ID: 7754588

Claim:
A method of incorporating phosphorus in a device structure, the method comprising: planarizing a top surface of a workpiece to create a substantially planar surface comprising a plurality of conductive paths and a plurality of dielectric regions; depositing a barrier layer over the substantially planar surface thereby forming an interface between the substantially planar surface and the barrier layer; and doping at least a portion of the barrier layer adjacent the interface with phosphorus to form a phosphorus-doped barrier layer and to provide phosphorus dopant at least at the interface between the substantially planar surface and the barrier layer, wherein the doping is performed after the depositing, and includes infusing the phosphorus into the barrier layer, the plurality of dielectric regions, and the plurality of conductive paths using a gas cluster ion beam to getter metal contaminants in the dielectric regions and to minimize electromigration in the conductive paths.