Optimization of porous ultra low-&amp;#x03BA; dielectrics (&amp;#x03BA; &amp;#x2264; 2.55) for 28nm generation

Kioussis, D.; Ryan, E. Todd; Madan, A.; Klymko, N.; Molis, S.; Sun, Zhen‐Gang; Masuda, Hideaki; Liang, Shuai; Lee, T.; Restaino, D.; Clevenger, L. A.; Quon, R.; Augur, Rod; Child, Craig; Gates, S. M.; Grill, A.; Shobha, H.; Sundlof, B.; Shaw, T. M.; Bonilla, G.; Daubenspeck, T.; Osborne, George E.; Cohen, Sarale E.; Virwani, Kumar

doi:10.1109/iitc.2011.5940304

Cited by 1 publication

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Collectively, the AFM and ellipsometry data lead us to conclude with confidence that the UV/O 3 treatments reported here do not affect the mechanical, optical, or electrical properties of the SiCOH low-k films. This is in contrast with what happens with the typical plasma treatments used to remove photoresist masks and with other cleaning processes, in which case significant damage has been reported. ,,,, Our results also contradict a previous report that claims significant removal of CH 3 groups from SiCOH films upon exposure of the films to UV radiation leading to measurable changes in structural, mechanical, and electrical characteristics …”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 98%

“…One concern with the UV/O 3 treatment is that such aggressive chemistry may modify the characteristics of the substrate. This is particularly critical with the low-k SiCOH films, because, as mentioned above, those are quite fragile: they contain organic moieties that may be easy to remove or modify, and also a porous structure that may be affected by the treatments. ,,− The integrity of the surfaces after treatment was evaluated here by AFM, ellipsometry, and infrared absorption spectroscopy. Typical AFM images and a summary of the results from the AFM measurements on the IBM1 and IBM2 samples in terms of the changes in surface roughness seen after each step of the process are provided in Figure (similar results were obtained with IBM3 and IBM4, not shown).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their basic properties are reported in Table . These all consist of ∼200 nm-thick SiCOH films deposited on silicon wafers. , The samples denoted as IBM1 and IBM3 are the original films, designed to have dielectric constants of 2.7 and 2.55, respectively, whereas IBM2 and IBM4 substrates were obtained after CMP of those samples. The wafers were cut in individual squares, ∼1 × 1 cm 2 in size, for our experiments.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, it has been determined that the dielectric constant of SiO 2 can be reduced by using doping with carbon-containing organics. ,, The resulting SiCOH materials have dielectric constants in the range from 2.7 to 3.0, and even lower values are possible by adding porosity. On the flip side, these new materials exhibit limited chemical stability, requiring special care during microelectronics manufacturing. ,− One of most difficult challenges when patterning the SiCOH dielectric is to minimize damage during the photoresist stripping processes, which typically relies on the use of plasmas with ions and radicals that can remove methyl groups from the surface of the SiCOH. , Because of this, the surface becomes hydrophilic, facilitating water absorption and leading to an increase in the dielectric constant of the material. ,, Several processes have been developed to minimize these problems, but those are multistep and introduce additional complications. ,− …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…32,33 Because of this, the surface becomes hydrophilic, facilitating water absorption and leading to an increase in the dielectric constant of the material. 31,34,35 Several processes have been developed to minimize these problems, but those are multistep and introduce additional complications. 34,36−40 It would be nice to be able to simplify the photolithography process itself, doing away with the photoresist if possible.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chemical Treatment of Low-k Dielectric Surfaces for Patterning of Thin Solid Films in Microelectronic Applications

Guo

Qin

Zaera

2016

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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A protocol has been developed to selectively process low-k SiCOH dielectric substrates in order to activate or deactivate them toward the deposition of thin solid films by chemical (CVD or ALD) means. The original SiCOH surfaces are hydrophobic, an indication that they are alkyl- rather than silanol-terminated and that, consequently, they are fairly unreactive. However, the chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) sometimes done during microelectronics fabrication renders them hydrophilic and reactive. It was shown here that silylation of the CMP-treated surfaces with any of a number of well-known silylation agents such as HMDS, ODTS, or OTS caps the reactive silanol surface groups and turns them back to being hydrophilic and unreactive. Further exposure of any of the passivated surfaces to a combination of ozone and UV radiation reinstates their hydrophilicity and chemical activity. Importantly, it was also demonstrated that all these changes could be induced without altering the original mechanical, optical, or electrical properties of the samples: atomic force microscopy (AFM) images show no increase in roughness, ellipsometry measurements yield the same values for the index of refraction and dielectric constant, and infrared absorption spectroscopy attests to the preservation of the organic fragments present in the original SiCOH samples. The chemical selectivity of the resulting surfaces was tested for the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of HfO2 films, which could be grown only on the UV/O3 treated substrates.

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