Insulating Ag–Polyimide Hybrid Films with a Tunable Dielectric Constant

Abstract

Herein, the production of nonpercolative hybrid insulating films with adjustable dielectric constant at low filler fractions is reported. These films might be useful to shape field distributions in passivation stacks or as dielectrics in passive components of integrated circuits such as capacitors. It is shown how such a system can be realized with commercially available materials and simple tools and how they can be significantly improved by adapting the processing techniques applied. The improved electric and dielectric properties are related to changes in the microstructure of the films caused by the different processing conditions. The experiments show that the films possess sufficiently stable properties from room temperature up to 150 °C, which enable them to be used in devices. Finally, a model is proposed for the dielectric breakdown of the films that gives a direction for the further improvement of such material systems.