Interconnect structures and methods for forming same

1. A method for forming an interconnect structure in an element, the method comprising:

providing a non-conductive material having an upper surface and a cavity extending into the non-conductive material from the upper surface;

exposing the upper surface of the non-conductive material and a cavity surface of the cavity in the non-conductive material to one or more surface nitriding treatments to form a treated upper surface and a treated cavity surface;

depositing a conductive material directly onto and contacting at least the treated cavity surface after the exposing, the treated cavity surface suppressing diffusion of the conductive material into the non-conductive material;

providing a second non-conductive material over at least a portion of the treated upper surface of the non-conductive material with a protective layer between the non-conductive material and the second non-conductive material;

patterning a second cavity in the second non-conductive material;

exposing a second cavity surface of the second cavity in the second non-conductive material to a second surface nitriding treatment to form a second treated surface; and

depositing a second conductive material onto the second treated surface after the exposing the second cavity surface.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising patterning the non-conductive material prior to exposure to the surface nitriding treatment.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-conductive material comprises a silicon based material.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, before exposing the surface to the surface nitriding treatment, treating the surface with one or more of carbon (C), boron (B), cobalt (Co), and manganese (Mn).

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein exposing the surface to the surface nitriding treatment further comprises exposing the surface to water vapor.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-conductive material comprises silicon oxide.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein exposing the surface of the cavity to the surface nitriding treatment comprises exposing the surface to a nitrogen-containing plasma.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising depositing a seed layer of the conductive material directly onto the treated surface, and forming the conductive material onto the treated surface by sputtering or atomic layer deposition.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising not providing a conductive barrier layer between the non-conductive material and the conductive material.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising planarizing the conductive material to remove unwanted materials including portions of the nonconductive layer, providing the protective layer over the planarized conductive material and non-conductive material, and removing a portion of the protective layer that is disposed over the planarized conductive material.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material has a resistivity in a range of 1.5 micro ohm-cm to 50 micro ohm-cm.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material fills at least 50% of a depth of the cavity.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the second non-conductive material comprises providing the second non-conductive material directly onto the treated upper surface of the non-conductive material.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the providing the second non-conductive material comprises depositing the second non-conductive material over the treated upper surface of the non-conductive material.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the exposing comprises simultaneously exposing the upper surface of the non-conductive material and the cavity surface of the cavity in the non-conductive material to the one or more surface nitriding treatments to simultaneously form the treated upper surface and the treated cavity surface.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein depositing the second conductive material comprises depositing the second conductive material directly onto and contacting a portion of the conductive material.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the exposing comprises separately exposing the upper surface of the non-conductive material and the cavity surface of the cavity in the non-conductive material to the one or more surface nitriding treatments to separately form the treated upper surface and the treated cavity surface.

18. A method for forming an interconnect structure in an element, the method comprising:

providing a non-conductive material over a structure having a non-conductive portion, a conductive portion in a first cavity of the non-conductive portion, and an intervening barrier layer between the non-conductive portion and the conductive portion;

patterning a second cavity in the non-conductive material;

exposing a surface of the second cavity in the non-conductive material to a plasma comprising a surface-treating species to form a treated surface after the patterning; and

depositing a conductive material comprising copper directly onto and contacting the treated surface without a barrier layer between the treated surface and the conductive material after the exposing.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein exposing the surface comprises exposing the surface to a nitrogen-containing plasma.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the non-conductive material comprises silicon oxide.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein exposing the surface of the second cavity of the non-conductive material to the plasma comprises forming chemical compounds at the surface between the non-conductive material and surface-treating species.

22. The method of claim 18 , wherein the plasma comprises moisture.

23. A method for direct bonding, the method comprising:

providing an element that includes a layer comprising a non-conductive material with one or more cavities defined therein, the one or more cavities extending into the non-conductive material from an upper surface;

exposing the upper surface and a cavity surface of the layer to a plasma comprising a surface-treating species to form a treated upper surface and a treated cavity surface;

forming a conductive material to at least partially fill the one or more cavities in the layer without an intervening barrier layer;

providing a second element that includes a second non-conductive material and a second conductive material; and

directly bonding the second element to the element such that the second non-conductive material is directly bonded to the non-conductive material and the second conductive material directly contacts a portion of the conductive material.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein exposing the surface of the layer to the plasma comprises exposing the surface to a nitrogen-containing plasma.

25. The method of claim 23 , further comprising removing at least a portion of the second non-conductive material.

26. The method of claim 23 , wherein providing the second non-conductive material comprises providing the second non-conductive material directly onto at least a portion of the treated upper surface without a protective layer therebetween.

27. The method of claim 23 , wherein the exposing comprises simultaneously exposing the upper surface of the non-conductive material and the cavity surface of the cavity in the non-conductive material to the plasma to simultaneously form the treated upper surface and the treated cavity surface.

28. The method of claim 23 , wherein the exposing the upper surface and the cavity surface of the layer to the plasma comprises separately exposing the upper surface and the cavity surface of the layer to the plasma to separately form the treated upper surface and the treated cavity surface.