In situ real-time monitoring of profile evolution during plasma etching of mesoporous low-dielectric-constant SiO 2Patterning of fluorine-, hydrogen-, and carbon-containing SiO 2 -like low dielectric constant materials in highdensity fluorocarbon plasmas: Comparison with SiO 2 O 2 plasma ashing is commonly used to remove photoresist. The effect of O 2 plasma ashing on the porous organosilicate glass (CH 3 SiO 1.5 ) n , one of the spin-on materials, is investigated. O 2 plasma can oxidize the methyl groups in porous organosilicate glass ͑POSG͒, which leads to the formation of Si-OH groups. The hydrophilic Si-OH groups will induce moisture uptake so that electrical degradation will occur in POSG film. Pure hexamethyldisilazane ͑HMDS͒ vapor ͑100% HMDS͒ can react with the Si-OH groups in POSG film. It converts hydrophilic Si-OH groups into hydrophobic Si-O-Si(CH 3 ) 3 groups against moisture uptake. The leakage current density decreases by a factor of 2-3 and the dielectric constant decreases from 3.62 to 2.4 when O 2 plasma-damaged POSG undergoes HMDS treatment at 80°C for 15 min. Therefore, HMDS treatment is the effective technique to repair the electrical degradation to POSG film during photoresist stripping processing.

The growth kinetics of amorphous interlayer (a interlayerbb) in polycrystalline Ti films on single-crystal-silicon has been studied by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The growth was found to follow a linear growth law initially in samples annealed at 350–425 °C. The activation energy of the linear growth was measured to be 1.6±0.3 eV. Maximum thicknesses of the a interlayers were measured to be of the order of 10 nm. The formation of an a interlayer was observed in samples annealed at a temperature as high as 600 °C. The formation and growth kinetics of a interlayers in Ti/Si and Ni/Zr systems are compared. Essential factors for the formation and growth of an a interlayer are discussed. The results represent the first report on the growth kinetics of an a interlayer in metal thin films on single-crystal silicon.

To develop a low-stress dielectric thin film, a novel liquid-phase deposition (LPD) technique utilizing silica-saturated hydrofluosilicic (H2SiF6) solution with only H20 added is proposed. Due to fluorine incorporation, the stress in asdeposited LPD oxide can he as low as 83.3 MPa (tensile). Addition of 1120 greatly affects the stresses in as-deposited LPD oxide: the less 1120 added, the lower the stress will be. The stress variations accompanying thermal cycling have also been clarified. Films deposited with a larger quantity of H20 added exhibited larger stress variations (hysteresis). After ex situ annealing at around 600°C, the total stress decreased to near 0 MPa. To meet future high-density and high-performance requirements for ultralarge scale integration (ULSI) devices, multilevel interconnection has become more important than ever. For multilevel interconnection, low

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The dielectric properties of organic-porous silica films deteriorate after photoresist removal processing. O 2 plasma ashing has been commonly used to remove photoresist. Nevertheless, the O 2 plasma will destroy the functional groups and induce moisture uptake in porous silica films. In this study, trimethylchlorosilane ͑TMCS͒ is used to repair the damage to porous silica caused by the O 2 plasma ashing process. The leakage current and dielectric constant will decrease significantly after the TMCS treatment is applied to damaged porous silica. These experimental results show that the TMCS treatment is a promising technique to repair the damage to porous silica during photoresist removal processing.