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The effects of low temperature and pressure on the fracture behaviors of organosilicate thin films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 August 2011

Soheil Barakat ,
Pearl Lee-Sullivan ,
Steven A. Vitale  and
Ting Y. Tsui
Soheil Barakat
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, CANADA
Pearl Lee-Sullivan
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, CANADA
Steven A. Vitale
Affiliation:
Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, Massachusetts 02420-9108
Ting Y. Tsui*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, CANADA
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: tttsui@uwaterloo.ca
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Abstract

A novel load–displacement sensing instrument has been designed and fabricated to characterize the fracture properties of brittle thin films at low temperature (approximately −30 °C) and pressure (1.6e-4 Pa) environments. In this study, the instrument was used to investigate the effects of harsh environments on the fracture behaviors of organosilicate glass (OSG) and silicon carbonitride (SiCN) thin films under four-point bend loading. Experimental results showed that the fracture strengths of film stacks are the highest when the environment contains a very low water molecule concentration. This condition can be achieved by purging the testing chamber with pure nitrogen or reducing the chamber pressure to less than 1 Pa. In contrast, cracks propagated readily along OSG/SiCN interfaces when experiments were performed in deionized water. The effects of low temperature (approximately −30 °C) and pressure on thin film fracture were also studied, and the results demonstrated that there is no observed degradation of the OSG fracture properties. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique was used to identify the chemical composition of the fracture surfaces.

Keywords

AdhesionMicroelectronicsThin film
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 26 , Issue 19 , 14 October 2011 , pp. 2524 - 2532
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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