Patent ID: 7985449

Claim:
A process for forming a metal film on an at least one surface of a diffusion barrier layer, the process comprising: providing the at least one surface of the diffusion barrier layer, wherein the diffusion barrier layer comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of a metal, a metal carbide, a metal nitride, a metal carbonitride, a metal silicon carbide, a metal silicon nitride, a metal silicon carbonitride, and mixtures thereof, wherein the diffusion barrier layer is not substantially free of elemental metal because either (i) the at least one material is the metal, (ii) the diffusion barrier layer has an orientation other than a substantially (111) preferred orientation, or (iii) the diffusion barrier layer has less than 95% of a (111) preferred orientation; exposing the at least one surface of the diffusion barrier layer to an at least one adhesion promoting agent selected from the group consisting of a nitrogen, a nitrogen-containing compound, a carbon-containing compound, a carbon and nitrogen containing compound, a silicon and carbon containing compound, a silicon, carbon, and nitrogen-containing compound or a mixture thereof, is conducted at a temperature of from 40° C. to 400° C. such that the at least one surface becomes substantially free of an elemental metal; and forming the metal film on at least a portion of the surface with at least one organometallic precursor by either a chemical vapor deposition or an atomic layer deposition process, wherein the organometallic precursor comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of copper, platinum, nickel, cobalt, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, iridium, gold, silver, and mixtures thereof wherein the exposing step is conducted prior to the forming step.