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Fracture Property Improvements of a Nanoporous Thin Film via Post Deposition UV Curing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Jeannette M. Jacques ,
Ting Y. Tsui ,
Andrew J. McKerrow  and
Robert Kraft
Jeannette M. Jacques
Affiliation:
jeannette.jacques@gmail.com, Texas Instruments, Inc., Silicon Technology Development, 13121 TI Blvd., MS/365, Dallas, Texas, 75243, United States, 972-995-3453, 942-995-6383
Ting Y. Tsui
Affiliation:
ttsui@ti.com, Texas Instruments, Inc., Silicon Technology Development, Dallas, Texas, 75243, United States
Andrew J. McKerrow
Affiliation:
mckerrow@ti.com, Texas Instruments, Inc., Silicon Technology Development, Dallas, Texas, 75243, United States
Robert Kraft
Affiliation:
r-kraft2@ti.com, Texas Instruments, Inc., Silicon Technology Development, Dallas, Texas, 75243, United States
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Abstract

As silicon-based microelectronic devices continue to aggressively scale down in size, traditional BEOL dielectric materials have become obsolete due to their relatively high dielectric constant. Organosilicate glass (OSG) materials have emerged as the predominant choice for intermetal dielectrics in advancing technology nodes. A potential failure mechanism for this class of low-k dielectric films during the manufacturing process is catastrophic fracture due to channel cracking. To improve the mechanical strength and stability of these silicon-based materials, the use of post-deposition curing processes is under evaluation. In this work, the effects of UV curing on the properties of OSG films were characterized. After UV curing, film hardness and elastic modulus are improved, with no change in the residual film stress. The average film density increases linearly as a function of UV exposure time. Channel crack propagation velocities decrease with UV exposure. The improvements in the mechanical properties of OSG films are believed to correlate with the increasing Si-O-Si bond population. Comparisons between post-deposition UV and Electron Beam curing processes are provided.

Keywords

dielectric propertiesstrengthplasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) (deposition)
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 914: Symposium F – Materials, Technology and Reliability of Low-k Dielectrics and Copper Interconnects , 2006 , 0914-F01-07
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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