Novel Ti/TaN double layers offering good stability as a barrier against Cu metallization have been made achievable by annealing in vacuum better than 1 x 10(-3) Pa. Ti/TaN double layers were formed on SiO2/Si substrates by DC magnetron sputtering and then the properties of Cu/Ti/TaN/SiO2/Si film stacks were studied. It was found that the Ti/TaN double layers provide good diffusion barrier between Cu and SiO2/Si up to 750 degrees C for 30 min. The XRD, Auger and EDS results show that the Cu-Si compounds like Cu3Si were formed by Cu diffusion through Ti/TaN barrier for the 800 degrees C annealed samples. It seems that the improved diffusion barrier property of Cu/Ti/TaN/SiO2/Si stack is due to the diffusion of nitrogen along the grain boundaries in Ti layer, which would decrease the defects in Ti film and block the diffusion path for Cu diffusion with increasing annealing temperature. The failure mechanism of Ti/TaN bi-layer is similar to the Cu/TaN/Si metallization system in which Cu atoms diffuse through the grain boundary of barrier and react with silicon to form Cu3Si. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.