Stacey A. Yamanaka

Deposition and Characterization of Porous Silica Xerogel Films

The continued scaling of device feature size demands the use of low permittivity intermetal dielectric materials. Porous silica xerogel films have low dielectric permittivity through the incorporation of micropores into the SiO 2 network. A feasible xerogel process has been developed. Crack-free and uniform silica xerogel films up to two microns in thickness with targeted porosity were readily coated. Xerogel materials completely filled 0.3 μm wide gaps with a 2:1 aspect ratio. MOSCAP measurements revealed a low permittivity and high dielectric breakdown strength. The dielectric breakdown strength is expected to be higher than that of ambient air because the average pore size of in the xerogel film is much smaller than the mean free path of the ambient air. Surface treated xerogel films were found to be hydrophobic as indicated by the absence of adsorbed moisture peaks in FTIR spectra. Xerogel films maintained their porosity after deposition of dense capping layers and a subsequent process under 700 atm Ar pressure at 400 °C. Test structures containing xerogel were successfully planarization with CMP and went through a tungsten plug deposition process without delamination nor collapsing. These results reflect the reasonable mechanical strength of xerogel films.

Optical sol-gel materials based on binding and catalysis by biomolecules

The proteins copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), cytochrome c, myoglobin, hemoglobin, and bacterio-rhodopsin are encapsulated in stable, optically transparent porous, silica glass matrices prepared by the sol-gel method such that the biomolecules retain their characteristic reactivities and spectroscopic properties. The resulting glasses allow transport of small molecules into and out of the glasses at reasonable rates but retain the protein molecules within their pores. The transparency of the glasses enables the chemical reactions of the immobilized proteins to be monitored by means of changes in their visible absorption spectra. Silica glasses containing the immobilized proteins have similar reactivities and spectroscopic properties to those found for the proteins in solution. The enzymes glucose oxidase and peroxidase were also encapsulated in transparent silica glass matrices. Upon exposure to glucose solutions, a colored glass is formed that can be used as the active element in a solid state optically based glucose sensor. Likewise, gels containing oxalate oxidase and peroxidase exhibit spectroscopic changes upon exposure to aqueous solutions containing oxalic acid.