Fluorinated amorphous carbon films that are thermally stable at 400 C have been deposited in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system using tetrafluorocarbon and disilane (5% by volume in helium) as precursors. The bulk dielectric constant (k) of the film has been optimized from 2.0/2.2 to 1.8/1.91 as-deposited and after heat treatment, by varying process parameters including power density, deposition temperature, and wall temperature. Films, failing shrinkage rate requirements, possessing promising k-values have been salvaged by utilizing a novel extended heat treatment scheme. Film properties including chemical bond structure, F/C ratio, refractive index, surface planarity, contact angle, dielectric constant, flatband voltage shift, breakdown field potential and optical energy gap have been evaluated by varying process pressure, power, substrate temperature, and flow rate ratio of processing gases. Both x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and FTIR results confirm that the stoichiometry of the ultralow k film is close to that of CF 2 with no oxygen. C-V characteristics indicate the presence of negative charges that are either interface trapped charges or bulk charges. Average breakdown field strength was in the range of 2-8 MV/cm while optical energy gap varied between 2.2 and 3.4 eV.
Layered dielectric films comprising of Diamond like Carbon (DLC) and Amorphous Fluorocarbon (a:C-F) were generated using three different stack configurations for ultra low dielectric constant (ULK) applications. These include a DLC – a:C-F – DLC sandwich, a:C-F – DLC topcoat only and an annealed a:C-F – DLC topcoat only film stack. These films were subsequently evaluated for thickness, dielectric constant, contact angle, surface roughness and chemical structure using IR analysis. Thermal stability was analyzed after annealing in Argon ambient at 400°C for 1 hour. Deposition conditions were optimized for film thickness, roughness, dielectric constant and contact angle using Minitab by tuning process pressure, substrate temperature and FRR. The modified Gaseous Electronics Conference (mGEC) reference cell was used to deposit DLC films using CH4 and Argon as precursors. Structural properties of the deposited thin film were studied using laser excitation of 633 nm in a Jobin Yvon Labram high-resolution micro-Raman spectrometer. Multiple points on each sample were analyzed in terms of the disordered carbon (D-peak) and graphitic carbon (G-peak). The thin film of DLC was subsequently annealed in Ar ambient for 1 hr at 400°C and analyzed. Commercially available graphing software was utilized to deconvolute peaks and the ratio of their intensities as well as the shift in their positions were determined to characterize the as-deposited and annealed film. The film was further characterized using AFM, FTIR, XRD, goniometry and electrical testing. Average film roughness as measured by AFM was less than 1 nm, the k-value was 2.5 and the contact angle with water was 42°. A:C-F films were separately deposited using CF4 and Si2H6 (5% by volume in He) as precursors in a UNAXIS PECVD system. Films deposited using substrate temperatures between 120°C – 200°C, chamber pressure of 300 and 500 mTorr and power of 100 W were independently evaluated in terms of their electrical, physical, structural and optical properties prior to layering with DLC films. After process optimization, seven unique process conditions generated promising layered films with k-values between 1.69 and 1.95. Of these, only one film exhibited very low shrinkage rates acceptable for semiconductor device processing.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.