using the current copper dual damascene process , the surface of the copper to which damascene interconnect plugs must be formed is exposed after via and trench etch . this exposed copper surface , when exposed to the processing environment and the therein present elements , is attacked by components of the etching chemistry , by photoresist strip , by post - etch via / trench cleaning chemistry and by oxidation in the air . this exposure of the copper surface results in a deterioration of the copper surface , having a negative impact on the performance of the copper interconnect metal . in addition , conventional argon ( ar ) sputtering that precedes the deposition of copper barrier and the copper fill , removes copper atoms from the exposed copper surface resulting in copper deposits over the lower extremities of the openings that have been created for the vias and interconnect trenches . these copper deposits readily diffuse into surrounding dielectrics and form a source of leakage currents from the copper interconnect metal to surrounding circuit or device elements . the invention provides a process that first covers the surface of a pattern of copper interconnect with a layer of barrier material after which overlying layers of metal interconnect are formed . this process will now be explained in detail using fig1 through 12 for this purpose . referring now specifically to fig1 , there is shown a cross - section of a semiconductor substrate 10 over the surface of which a pattern of copper interconnect metal has been formed . specifically highlighted in the cross section of fig1 are a layer 13 of dielectric through which the pattern 12 / 14 of copper interconnect metal has been formed . the surface of layer 13 has been polished after the copper for pattern 12 / 14 has been deposited . the invention continues , fig2 , with the deposition of a layer 16 of semiconductor material over the surface of the layer 13 of dielectric , including the surface of the interconnect pattern 12 / 14 . preferred materials for the layer 16 of semiconductor material are photoinimide , polyimides , polymers or other dielectric materials . it is well known in the art that organic polymer is taken from the group consisting of poly ( arylene ether ) and a polyimide , and is used as an inter - metal - dielectric . as an example of the deposition of a layer 16 can be cited depositing a layer of polymer at a pressure of between about 25 and 2 . 75 torr in a plasma containing chf 3 at a flow rate of about 18 sccm , cf 4 at a flow rate of about 72 sccm and he at a flow rate of about 165 sccm , deposited for a time of about 10 seconds and to a thickness between about 200 and 300 angstrom . for layer 16 for instance can be used a low - k polymer material including polyimides , fluorinated polyimides , polysilsequioxane , benzocyclobutene ( bcb ), parlene f , parlene n and amorphous polytetrafluorothylene . a polymer film can be spun onto the wafer and can contain polycarbonate ( pc ), polystyrene ( ps ), polyoxides ( po ), polymethylmethacrylate ( ppma ) and poly - polyoxides ( ppo ). it is important to use a material for the polymer film that can be applied by spin coating and that can , at a later date , be easily removed by dipping the coated semiconductor package in a solvent . solvents that can be used for this purpose include acetone , thf and trichloro - methane . the layer 16 of semiconductor material is next patterned and etched , using for this purpose a photoresist mask 18 , fig3 , having a pattern that exposes the surface of layer 16 by means of openings 15 / 17 there - through , opening 15 / 17 align with the interconnect pattern 12 / 14 . conventional methods of photolithographic exposure and development are applied for the creation of the photoresist mask 18 shown in cross section in fig3 . the layer 16 of semiconductor dielectric is now etched , fig4 , after which the photoresist mask 18 is removed from the surface of the patterned and etch layer 16 using methods of photoresist ashing following by a thorough surface clean . the etching of layer 16 of dielectric such as polysilicon can be accomplished by using an anisotropic plasma etch , for example a reactive ion etch ( rie ), using as etchant gasses a gas such as hydrogen bromide ( hbr ) or chlorine ( cl 2 ) and a carrier gas such as argon ( ar ) with as preferred gasses sf 6 and hbr . conventional processing - parameters for the etch of layer 16 of dielectric can be applied : etchant comprising a mix of c 4 f 8 to co with the c 4 f 8 being provided at a temperature of between about 50 and 70 degrees c . and a pressure between about 50 and 60 mtorr and a flow rate of between about 12 and 16 sccm . the co gas is processed at a temperature of between about 50 and 70 degrees c and a pressure of between about 50 and 60 mtorr and a flow rate of between about 300 and 400 sccm . the mix of c 4 f 8 to co has a ratio of between about 1 / 20 and 1 / 30 . the surface of the structure shown in cross section in fig4 is now ion bombarded ( pre - barrier metal argon sputter 20 , fig5 ), using ar as sputtering ions at a temperature of about 25 to 150 degrees c . and a pressure of about 100 to 150 mtorr for a time duration of about 5 to 10 seconds , the sputter process being time controlled . this ar ion bombardment dislodges a number of copper atoms from the exposed surface of copper pattern 12 / 14 , these dislodged copper atoms form thin layers of copper deposits 21 over the lower extremities of sidewalls of the openings 15 / 17 created through the layer 16 of dielectric material . this deposition of barrier material over the surface areas of openings 31 results in improved adhesion of the thereover deposited metal that is deposited to fill openings 31 , facilitating this process of metal deposition . the ar sputter is therefore followed by the deposition of a layer 22 of barrier material as shown in cross section in fig6 . barrier layer 22 is formed of a material selected from the group consisting of without however being limited thereto tungsten , ti / tin : w ( titanium / titanium nitride : tungsten ), titanium - tungsten / titanium or titanium - tungsten nitride / titanium or titanium nitride or titamium nitride / titanium , tantalum , tantalum nitride , tantalum silicon nitride , niobium , molybdenum , aluminum , aluminum oxide ( al x o y ). as a material for the layer 22 of barrier material is selected a material that is : electrically conductive copper compatible isolation dielectric compatible chemically stable , and resistant to interaction with processing chemicals . as an example of the creation of layer 22 can be cited depositing a layer of sin using pecvd in a temperature range of between 200 and 500 degrees c . to a thickness of between about 50 and 1000 angstrom . another example of depositing a barrier layer over a damascene structure by depositing a layer of sin under a temperature between about 200 and 500 degrees c ., a pressure between about 1 mtorr and 100 torr , a time between about 2 and 100 seconds , an environment of sih 4 + nh 3 + n 2 or si 2 h 6 + nh 3 + n 2 or sih 4 + n 2 + ar using a plasma or thermal process . next , the layer 16 , fig6 , of semiconductor material is removed (“ polymer lift - off ”) from the surface of the layer 13 of dielectric , the results of which are shown in cross section in fig7 . remaining in place are the layers 22 of barrier material overlying the copper pattern 12 / 14 , these layers 22 form protective layers of the surface of the copper interconnect pattern 12 / 14 . for the lift - off the polymer and the ta that is overlaid over the polymer , acetone or any other solvent may be used . a layer 24 , fig8 , of etch stop material is then deposited over the surface of the structure shown in cross section in fig7 . etch stop layers , typically comprising silicon nitride , are used to control the depth of the etch that is performed through a layer of dielectric . the method of choice that is most frequently used to create openings uses - photolithography whereby a pattern that is contained in an exposure mask is transferred to a radiation sensitive medium , such as photoresist . layer 24 of etch stop material may for instance comprise oxynitride or silicon nitride and is preferably deposited using methods of lpcvd or pecvd or hdcvd or sputtering or high density plasma cvd ( hdpcvd ). an etch stop layer 24 of silicon nitride ( si 3 ni 4 ) can be deposited using pecvd procedures at a pressure between about 200 mtorr and 400 mtorr , at a temperature between about 350 and 450 degrees c ., to a thickness of about 1 , 000 to 5 , 000 angstrom using nh 3 and sih 4 or sic 12 h 2 . a silicon nitride layer 24 can also be deposited using lpcvd or pecvd procedures using a reactant gas mixture such as dichlorosilane ( sic 12 h 2 ) as a silicon source material and ammonia ( nh 3 ) as a nitrogen source , at a temperature between about 600 and 800 degrees c ., at a pressure between about 300 mtorr and 400 mtorr , to a thickness between about 1 , 000 and 5 , 000 angstrom . next , layers of dielectric interspersed with etch stop material are deposited as shown in the cross section of fig9 . specifically shown in the cross section of fig9 are a first layer 26 of dielectric , a second layer 27 of etch stop material ( with layer 24 being a first layer of etch stop material ) and a second layer 28 of dielectric . for the layers 26 and 28 of dielectric can be used conventional materials used for the isolation of conductors from each other and from underlying conductive elements , a suitable dielectric being , for instance silicon dioxide (“ oxide ”, doped or undoped ) or silicon nitride (“ nitride ”), silicon oxynitride , fluoropolymer , parylene , polyimide , tetra - ethyl - ortho - silicate ( teos ) based oxides , boro - phosphate - silicate - glass ( bpsg ), phospho - silicate - glass ( psg ), boro - silicate - glass ( bsg ), oxide - nitride - oxide ( ono ), plasma enhanced silicon nitride ( psinx ), oxynitride . a low dielectric constant material , such as hydrogen silsesquioxane . hdp - fsg ( high - density - plasma fluorine - doped silicate glass ) is a dielectric that has a lower dielectric constant than regular oxide . the most commonly used and therefore the preferred dielectrics of layers 26 and 28 are silicon dioxide ( doped or undoped ), silicon oxynitride , parylene or polyimide , spin - on - glass , plasma oxide or lpcvd oxide . layers 26 , 27 and 28 are deposited in preparation for the creation of a contact opening through these layers , the created contact opening is aligned with copper pattern 14 as shown in the cross section of fig1 . conventional methods of photolithographic exposure and development are applied for the etch of the opening 29 through the layers 28 , 27 , 26 and 24 . shown in the cross section of fig1 are deposits 30 created in this instance by the etch for the creation of opening 29 , which dislodges a number of copper atoms from the exposed surface of copper pattern 14 . these dislodged copper atoms form thin layers 30 of copper deposits over the lower extremities of sidewalls of the opening 29 . a second barrier layer 31 , fig1 , is next deposited over inside surfaces of opening 29 and the surface of layer 28 of dielectric , using the same criteria of material selection and deposition conditions as previously have been highlighted for the creation of the first barrier layer 22 , fig6 . this is followed by , fig1 , the deposition using methods of electro chemical plating ( ecp ) copper and copper chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ). typical ecp processing parameters are as follows : temperature between about 25 and 50 degrees , the source of deposition of the h 2 so 4 is the dilution of h 2 so 4 , cuso 4 and hcl with a deposition flow rate of between about 15k and 20 k sccm and a deposition time of between about 1 and 10 minutes , the voltage applied to the anode between about 0 . 1 and 2 volts and the voltage applied to the cathode between about 0 . 1 and 2 volts . the ecp process creates the metal plug in a well - controlled manner due to the fact that ecp cu deposits cu only on places that have a cu seed , without the cu seed the ecp bath does not deposit cu . it may therefore be of advantage to the process of the invention to further deposit a seed layer ( not shown ) over the layer 31 , fig1 , of copper barrier material . from the above detailed description of the invention , it is clear that the invention has provided a method for the protection of a copper surface during processing steps of creating an opening overlying the copper surface . barrier layer 22 , fig7 , serves this function of copper surface protection . the method of polymer lift - off has been used for the creation of the barrier layer overlying the copper surface . although the invention has been described and illustrated with reference to specific illustrative embodiments thereof , it is not intended that the invention be limited to those illustrative embodiments . those skilled in the art will recognize that variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention . it is therefore intended to include within the invention all such variations and modifications which fall within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof .