Effects of He (90%)/H{sub 2} (10%) plasma treatment on electric properties of low dielectric constant SiCOH films
- Department of Physics, Institute of Basic Science, Brain Korea 21 Physics Research Division, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)
- School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)
In microelectronics industry, integration of the low dielectric constant (low-k) material films is a continuing issue due to the decreasing device feature size. To improve electric properties, various post-deposition treatments of the low-k material films can be used. In this work, we used room temperature treatment of He/H{sub 2} plasma and investigated the effects of plasma treatment on the electrical properties of low-k SiOCH films. Plasma treatment time changed from 300 to 1800 s. After treatment, the dielectric constant was decreased from 2.9 to 2.48, and the thickness of the low-k SiCOH films changed by only ∼5%. The leakage current densities of the low-k SiCOH films were decreased to ∼10{sup −11} A/cm{sup 2}, with treatment time ≥600 s. The breakdown occurred only around 2 V for films plasma-treated for 600 and 900 s. However, for 1800 s treatment time, the breakdown voltage was enhanced dramatically and breakdown occurred at applied voltage higher than 40 V. The surface composition change of the films after treatment was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). As the plasma treatment time was increased, the intensities of C-C/C-H and C-Si peaks were decreased while the intensities of Si-O and C-O peaks were increased. It is thought that increase of oxygen content of the SiCOH film, after plasma treatment, contributed to leakage current reduction and breakdown voltage increase.
- OSTI ID:
- 22215531
- Journal Information:
- Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 47, Issue 10; Conference: IFFM2011: 2011 international forum on functional materials, Jeju Island (Korea, Republic of), 28-31 Jul 2011, AFM-2: 2. special symposium on advances in functional materials, Jeju Island (Korea, Republic of), 28-31 Jul 2011; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0025-5408
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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