Technique for forming metal lines in a semiconductor by adapting the temperature dependence of the line resistance

By moderately introducing defects into a highly conductive material, such as copper, the resistance versus temperature behavior may be significantly modified so that enhanced electromigration behavior and/or electrical performance may be obtained in metallization structures of advanced semiconductor devices. The defect-related portion of the resistance may be moderately increased so as to change the slope of the resistance versus temperature curve, thereby allowing the incorporation of impurity atoms for enhancing the electromigration endurance while not unduly increasing the overall resistance at the operating temperature or even reducing the corresponding resistance at the specified operating temperature. Thus, by appropriately designing the electrical resistance for a target operating temperature, both the electromigration behavior and the electrical performance may be enhanced.