| AVS 60th International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Plasma Science and Technology | Tuesday Sessions |
| Session PS-TuP |
| Session: | Plasma Science and Technology Poster Session |
| Presenter: | D. Pei, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Authors: | D. Pei, University of Wisconsin-Madison M. Nichols, University of Wisconsin-Madison H. Sinha, University of Wisconsin-Madison S. Banna, Applied Materials Inc. Y. Nishi, Stanford University J.L. Shohet, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) is a major concern for low-k dielectrics. The TDDB properties of porous organosilicate glass (OSG) and photopatternable low-k dielectric (PPLK) films after plasma and/or VUV exposure are evaluated using contstant voltage time-to-breakdown measurements. To examine the effect of plasma exposure on TDDB degradation, dielectric films were exposed to Ar plasma in an ECR reactor. To separate the effect of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation on TDDB from charged particle bombardment, synchrotron radiation was used. This also has the advantage of being able to vary the wavelength of the radiation continuously. Dielectric films were exposed under different photon energies with the same fluence. After plasma or VUV exposures constant-voltage time-to-breakdown measurements were made for each sample. Weibull statistics were used. Both the results from PPLK and OSG showed that when the samples were exposed to plasma, significant degradation in breakdown time was observed. The VUV radiation under different photon energies shows less effect on the TDDB of both PPLK and OSG for the same fluence as the plasma. Charge-to-breakdown measurements also show similar results.
This work has been supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation under Contract No. 2012-KJ-2359 and by the National Science Foundation under Grant CBET-1066231.