| AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Electronic Materials and Photonics Division | Thursday Sessions |
| Session EM-ThP |
| Session: | Electronic Materials and Photonics Poster Session |
| Presenter: | Sang-heum Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Authors: | S. Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison J. Blatz, University of Wisconsin-Madison W. Li, University of Wisconsin-Madison H. Zhang, University of Wisconsin-Madison D. Pei, University of Wisconsin-Madison T. Guo, University of Wisconsin-Madison X. Zhou, University of Wisconsin-Madison Y. Lin, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Taiwan, Republic of China H. Fung, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Taiwan, Republic of China C. Chen, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Taiwan, Republic of China S.W. King, Intel Corporation Y. Nishi, Stanford University J.L. Shohet, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Porous SiCOH films are rapidly emerging as preferred interplay dielectric materials in semiconductor fabrication because of their ultra-low dielectric-constant properties. Ultraviolet (UV) light on organosilicate thin films in post-deposition treatments initiates to photo-chemical process by nano pores generators (porogens) and form a network to improve mechanical properties of the dielectrics. A simple and cost-saving method of improving not only the mechanical property but also electrical property was found by combined with two different UV exposure energies called UV/Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV) photons curing without the need for heating the dielectric [1] The goal of this work is to choose the best combined UV/VUV photon energies and to investigate beneficial effects that lower the dielectric constant, minimize damage, and increase the elastic modulus of low-k dielectrics as a function of the fluence of the UV/VUV curing photons. The following measurements were made. (1) We exposed SiCOH films samples with UV/VUV photon energies ranging from 4.5 to 8.9 eV from a beamline at the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC) in Taiwan. (2) Using both nanoindentation and Time-Dependent Dielectric Breakdown (TDDB) measurement, we found the most beneficial energies (usually 2) for improving both electrical and mechanical properties could be found from VUV spectroscopic measurements. (3) We exposed the same SiCOH films at the same beamline using two combined photon energies with four different fluences from 5 x 10^14 photons/cm2 and 10^16 photons/cm2. (4) We measured TDDB and the nanoindentation after exposure. We show that this method can be applied to different porous SiCOH films, so that we can overcome drawbacks of UV curing and improve the properties of these dielectrics at room temperature.
This work was supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation under Contract No. 2012-KJ-2359.
[1] H. Zheng, et al.Applied Physics Letters, 108 242906. (2016)