Characterization of chemical bonding in low-k dielectric materialsfor interconnect isolation: a xas and eels study
The use of low dielectric constant materials in the on-chipinterconnect process reduces interconnect delay, power dissipation andcrosstalk noise. To achieve the requirements of the ITRS for 2007-2009minimal sidewall damage from etch, ash or cleans is required. In chemicalvapor deposited (CVD) organo-silicate glass (OSG) which are used asintermetal dielectric (IMD) materials the substitution of oxygen in SiO2by methyl groups (-CH3) reduces the permittivity significantly (from 4.0in SiO2 to 2.6-3.3 in the OSG), since the electronic polarizability islower for Si-C bonds than for Si-O bonds. However, plasma processing forresist stripping, trench etching and post-etch cleaning removes C and Hcontaining molecular groups from the near-surface layer of OSG.Therefore, compositional analysis and chemical bonding characterizationof structured IMD films with nanometer resolution is necessary forprocess optimization. OSG thin films as-deposited and after plasmatreatment are studied using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) andelectron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). In both techniques, the finestructure near the C1s absorption or energy loss edge, respectively,allows to identify C-H, C-C, and C-O bonds. This gives the opportunity todifferentiate between individual low-k materials and their modifications.The O1s signal is less selective to individual bonds. XAS spectra havebeen recorded for non-patterned films and EELS spectra for patternedstructures. The chemical bonding is compared for as-deposited andplasma-treated low-k materials. The Fluorescence Yield (FY) and the TotalElectron Yield (TEY) recorded while XAS measurement are compared.Examination of the C 1s near-edge structures reveal a modified bonding ofthe remaining C atoms in the plasma-treated sample regions.
- Research Organization:
- COLLABORATION - University of Cottbus,Germany
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 929364
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-63055; TRN: US200814%%124
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2006 MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco,California, April 17-21, 2006
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ABSORPTION
ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY
ATOMS
BONDING
CLEANING
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
ELECTRONS
ENERGY-LOSS SPECTROSCOPY
ETCHING
FINE STRUCTURE
FLUORESCENCE
GLASS
MODIFICATIONS
OPTIMIZATION
OXYGEN
PERMITTIVITY
POLARIZABILITY
RESOLUTION
SPECTRA
THIN FILMS
low dielectric constant
plasma processing
x-ray absorptionspectroscopy advanced light source als