Neil Hendricks

Low Dielectric Constant Materials for IC Intermetal Dielectric Applications: A Status Report on the Leading Candidates

For over two years, intensive efforts at SEMATECH and elsewhere have focused on identifying low dielectric constant (low e) materials which possess all of the required properties and processing characteristics needed for integration into standard IC fabrication lines. To date, no material candidate has been shown to satisfy this impressive list of requirements. For some candidates, drawbacks related to material properties such as poor thermal stability or electrical performance have been identified; in other cases, problems in process integration, for example difficulties in patterning have stalled progress. In this paper, most of the current leading candidates for the low e IC IMC application are identified and discussed. An attempt is made to correlate structure/property relationships in these materials with their relative attributes and deficiencies as they relate to the IMD application. Key differences in chemistry and property/processing characteristics are contrasted for low c silicon-oxygen polymers and for purely organic polymers. Novel dielectrics such as porous organic and inorganic thin films are also discussed in terms of their properties and associated process integration challenges. Since the needs for global planarization and low c IMD are occurring within roughly the same generation of minimum feature size (˜ 0.25 μm), the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of low dielectric constant thin films and/or of SiO 2 layers deposited above them is briefly discussed. Both subtractive metalization and damascene processes are included, and the required low dielectric constant film properties and processing characteristics are contrasted for each process. Finally, the authors views on future trends in low dielectric constant materials development are presented, with an emphasis on identifying the types of chemical structures which may prove viable for this most demanding of all polymer film applications.

Synthesis And Characterization Of Fluorinated Poly(Arylethers): Organic Polymers For Ic Imd

Among the more promising approaches to minimizing capacitance in the multilevel interconnect of integrated circuits containing sub-half micron metal spacings is the development of organic polymers which exhibit high performance in key attributes such as thermal stability, low dielectric constant, and low moisture absorption coupled with high outgassing rates of what little moisture may be present. The use of such polymers as the intermetal dielectric can reduce power consumption and cross talk, while increasing signal propagation speed. While polyimides are the most extensively characterized polymer thin film dielectrics, and are in many cases suitable for the intermetal dielectrics in multichip modules, their tendency to absorb significant quantities of moisture, coupled with relatively slow outgas characteristics (presumably due to hydrogen bonding between water molecules and the carbonyls of the polyimide) constitute significant impediments to throughput in the fabrication of IC interconnects. The search for alternative polymers which incorporate the “good” characteristics of polyimides while exhibiting improvements in electrical, moisture, and processing characteristics led us to the development of nominally 1 μm spin-on films derived from a family of noncarbonyl containing aromatic polyethers. Fluorinated poly(arylethers) based on decafluorobiphenyl exhibit thermal stability comparable to polyimides, from ten to forty times lower moisture absorption, dielectric constants in the mid-twos, and good retention of storage modulus above their glass transition temperatures. The precursor spin-on solutions, formulated in low toxicity organic solvents, exhibit excellent shelf life, and can be prepared with extremely low levels of metallic contamination. This paper describes the synthesis and both solution and film properties of this newly developed class of highly processible thermally stable polymers, first reported by Mercer, et. al. [1]. The characteristics of the polymers when spin-coated on silicon wafers is emphasized. Thermal and thermomechanical properties of nominally 10-25 μm free standing films are also described.