Shunsuke Oike

A Novel Organosiloxane Vapor Annealing Process for Improving Elastic Modulus of Porous Low-k Films

A novel organosiloxane-vapor-annealing method has been developed for improving the mechanical strength of porous silica films with a low dielectric constant. Treatment of a porous silica film with 1,3,5,7-tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane (TMCTS) under atmospheric nitrogen above 350 °C significantly enhanced the mechanical strength (i.e., elastic modulus and hardness) of the film. Results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) suggested the formation of cross-linked poly(TMCTS) network on the porous silica internal wall surfaces by the TMCTS treatment. Such TMCTS cross-linked network is thought to enhance the mechanical strength of the low-k film.

Simple Models on Enhancement of Mechanical Properties of Porous Silica Low-k Films by Tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane(TMCTS) Vapor Annealing Treatment

MIRAI, Advanced Semiconductor Research Center, AIST, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, IBARAKI 305-8569, Japan Phone: +81-29-861-4381 Fax :+81-29-861-4047 E-mail: y.seino@aist.go.jp Advanced Semiconductor Research Center, AIST, 16-1, Onogawa, Tsukuba, IBARAKI 305-8569, Japan MIRAI, Association of Super-Advanced Electronics Technologies, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, IBARAKI 305-8569, Japan Research Center for Nanodevices and Systems, Hiroshima University, 1-4-2, Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, HIROSHIMA 739-8527, Japan