Two group IV precursors, titanium(IV) neo-pentoxide, [Ti(m-ONep) (ONep) 3 ] 2 (1, where ONep = OCH 2 C(CH 3 ) 3 ), and zirconium(IV) neo-pentoxide, [Zr(m-ONep)(ONep) 3 ] 2 (2), were found to possess relatively high volatility at low temperatures. These compounds were therefore investigated as metal±organic CVD (MOCVD) precursors using a lamp-heated cold-wall CVD reactor by direct vaporization without a carrier gas. The ONep derivatives proved to be competitive precursors for the production of thin films of the appropriate MO 2 (M = Ti or Zr) materials in comparison to other metallo-organic precursors. Compound 1 was found to vaporize at 120 C with a deposition rate of~0.350 mm/min onto a substrate at 330 C forming the anatase phase with <1 % residual C found in the final film. Compound 2 was found to vaporize at 160 C and deposited a crystalline material at 300 C with <1 % residual C found in the final film. A comparison with standard alkoxide and b-diketonates is presented where appropriate.

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Thin sacrificial films are used as cap layer in the back-end semiconductor processing for protecting the bulk porous inter-layer low-k dielectric during the CMP process. The existing optical measurement techniques struggle to separate these thin films from the bulk low-k due to very similar optical coefficients. Glancing angle x-ray reflectivity is well suited for separation of thin sacrificial film and bulk dielectric film as x-ray reflectivity depends strongly on changes in electron densities for two materials. This paper discusses the x-ray reflectivity technique and its applications for measurement of low-k stack and sacrificial oxide post CMP.