Zeolites are ideal low-dielectric constant (low-k) materials. This paper reports on a novel plasma-assisted approach to the synthesis of low-k thin films comprising pure-silica zeolite MFI. The proposed method involves treating the aged solution using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ). The high reactivity of the resulting nitrogen plasma helps to produce zeolite crystals with high crystallinity and uniform crystal size distribution. The APPJ treatment also remarkably reduces the time for hydrothermal reaction. The zeolite MFI suspensions synthesized with the APPJ treatment are used for the wet deposition to form thin films. The deposited zeolite thin films possessed dense morphology and high crystallinity, which overcome the trade-off between crystallinity and film quality. Zeolite thin films synthesized using the proposed APPJ treatment achieve low leakage current (on the order of 10 A/cm) and high Young's modulus (12 GPa), outperforming the control sample synthesized without plasma treatment. The dielectric constant of our zeolite thin films was as low as 1.41. The overall performance of the low-k thin films synthesized with the APPJ treatment far exceed existing low-k films comprising pure-silica MFI.

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The voltage current property of the unbalanced magnetron sputtering (UMS) system has significant influence on the sputtering process and films deposition process. Based on the analysis of the relationship between unbalanced magnetic field and properties of the unbalanced magnetron sputtering system, according to Child law the model of the V-I property of the UMS system is set up. Comparisons between the model calculation results and the experimental data indicate that the model correctly expresses the relation between the unbalanced magnetic field and the discharge properties of the UMS system.

A conventional magnetron and a coaxial electrosolenoid were used to construct an unbalanced magnetron sputtering deposition system for investigating its properties. At 02Pa, argon gas discharging, a shielded planar ioncollecting electrode was taken to measure the saturation ion beam flux density at the different axial positions. The saturation ion flux reached about 9mA/cm2. The magnetohydrodynamics was applied to analyse the influences of the magnetic mirror effect on the discharge properties caused by the solenoid. As a result, the comparisons of the theoretical calculations with the experiments indicated that the model described correctly the plasma properties in the unbalanced magnetron sputtering system.