The characteristics of various copper (Cu) barrier layers, including SiN, SiCN, and SiCO, were investigated in this work. Carbon-based barrier films (SiCN and SiCO) improved the dielectric constant and line-to-line capacitance, but led to sacrifice in film deposition rate, diffusion-barrier performance, and adhesion strength to Cu in comparison with SiN films. In addition, SiN and SiCO films showed the superior electromigration (EM) performance and stress-induced void migration (SM) performance, respectively. Furthermore, the reliability results of SM and EM are strongly related to the barrier film stress characteristics and the adhesion strength between Cu layers. Therefore, optimization of the barrier layer stress and the enhancement of the interfacial condition between Cu and barrier films are crucial to significantly improve reliability. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.