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The crack formation behavior and mechanical properties, hardness (H), modulus (E), and fracture toughness (K IC ), at each plane of BaTiO 3 based multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) have been investigated and estimated using a nanoindentation technique, including effects of the post-heat treatment and the external electrode on the crack formation and mechanical properties. The crack length in each plane, length (x plane) and width (y plane) planes, has been measured for MLCCs with and without the post-heat treatment, as a function of the distance from the internal electrode. H and E values are 11.5-12.0 GPa and 175-190 GPa, respectively, independent of the plane and the post-heat treatment. The crack length in the x plane is smaller than that in the y plane, which is gradually increased as the indentation position is far away from the internal electrode. The external electrode affects the crack formation in regions near to the internal electrode, showing small crack length till 20 μm from the internal electrode. K IC values in the x plane are larger than those in the y plane. The external electrode affects only the K IC values in the x plane within the error range, without effect of the post-heat treatment.

Decreasing the circuit dimensions is driving the need for low-k materials with a lower dielectric constant to reduce RC delay, crosstalk, and power consumption. In case of spin-on organosilicate low-k films, the incorporation of a porogen is regarded as the only foreseeable route to decrease dielectric constant of 2.2 or below by changing a packing density. In this study, MTMS-BTMSE copolymers that had superior mechanical properties than MSSQ were blended with decomposable polymers as pore generators. While adding up to 40 wt % porogen into MTMS:BTMSE=100:50 matrix, optical, electrical, and mechanical properties were measured and the pore structure was also characterized by PALS. The result confirmed that there existed a tradeoff in attaining the low dielectric constant and desirable mechanical strength, and no more pores than necessary to achieve the dielectric objective should be incorporated. When the dielectric constant was fixed to approximately 2.3 by controlling BTMSE and porogen contents simultaneously, the thermo-mechanical properties of the porous films were also investigated for the comparison purpose. Under the same dielectric constant, the increase in BTMSE and porogen contents led to improvement in modulus measured by the nanoindentation technique but deterioration of adhesion strength obtained by the modified edge lift-off test.