Vibrational spectroscopy of low-k/ultra-low-k dielectric materials on patterned wafers

Lam, Jeffrey; Huang, Maggie Yamin; Tan, H.; Mo, Zhi Qiang; Mai, Zhihong; Wong, Chee Chung; Sun, Handong; Shen, Zexiang

doi:10.1116/1.3625099

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Previous efforts to collect infrared spectra from patterned SiOC:H films using an FT-IR microscope have been reported by Lam et al 40,41 Spectral artifacts due to scattering and optical interferences from the IR beam reflected from the complex underlying structures could also affect spectral interpretation. 47,48 By using an AFM probe as a mechanical absorption sensor smaller than the diameter of the IR radiation, the AFM-IR technique detects the local thermal expansions that are in the near-field and minimizes optical artifacts in the far-field.…”

Section: Absorbance (Au)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[40][41][42] Thus, nanometer scale low-k a-SiOC:H/Cu interconnects represent an excellent test vehicle for demonstrating combined nanoscale chemical structure and physical property characterization.…”

Section: 37mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…36,37 Micron-scale transmission FTIR and nanoindentation measurements have been the dominant techniques for structure-property characterization of low-k materials, 38,39 but are largely incapable at the nanoscale and have been limited to examining blanket films or micron wide, ordered arrays of patterned structures. [40][41][42] Thus, nanometer scale low-k a-SiOC:H/Cu interconnects represent an excellent test vehicle for demonstrating combined nanoscale chemical structure and physical property characterization.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nanoscale Chemical-Mechanical Characterization of Nanoelectronic Low-kDielectric/Cu Interconnects

Lo¹,

Dazzi

Marcott³

et al. 2015

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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Combined nanoscale chemical and mechanical property characterization has largely been limited by the inability to extend chemical structure identification techniques such as infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy into the nanometer regime due to diffraction limitations. The recent development of atomic force microscope (AFM) based IR spectroscopy (AFM-IR) has now enabled infrared chemical spectroscopy with resolution well below the diffraction limit. However, the combination of AFM-IR with other AFM based techniques to achieve nanoscale chemical structure-mechanical property characterization has yet to be demonstrated. In this regard, we have combined AFM-IR chemical and contact resonance AFM (CR-AFM) mechanical measurements in the investigation of low dielectric constant (low-k) / Cu damascene structures fabricated using a 90 nm interconnect process technology. We show that the combined AFM-IR and CR-AFM results can be utilized to perform nanoscale chemical-mechanical characterization of both the nano-patterned metal and the low-k dielectric whose mechanical properties are sensitive to chemical modification by the interconnect fabrication process. The continued drive to seek and exploit new materials and phenomena at nanometer dimensions has increased the demand for metrologies capable of characterizing both chemical structure and physical properties at the nanoscale. The nanoelectronics industry in particular has identified metrologies capable of performing nanoscale structureproperty measurements on new materials and devices as an area of critical need in their industry technology roadmap.1,2 Such requirements for nanoscale physical property characterization have readily been met by the development of a range of scanned probe techniques capable of assessing the thermal, 3,4 mechanical, 5,6 and electrical 7,8 properties of materials at the nanoscale. 9 However, the development of nanoscale chemical structure metrologies has been hindered by the difficulty of scaling popular micron-scale techniques such as infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy [10][11][12] into the nanometer regime due to diffraction limits defined by the Rayleigh equation.13,14 To overcome these limitations, a number of approaches combining optical spectroscopy with scanned probe microscopy (SPM) have been proposed and demonstrated. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Of these, the atomic force microscope (AFM) IR technique, which is based on photothermally induced resonance (PTIR), 21,22 has recently garnered significant interest due to a demonstrated spatial resolution of 25-100 nm, and a close correlation to micron-scale Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. 13,14 This combination has resulted in the utilization of AFM-IR in a number of biological, 23-25 polymeric, 26-28 and semiconductor [29][30][31] applications. However, AFM-IR and related techniques have yet to be routinely combined with other AFM based techniques to achieve the ultimate goal of nanoscale structure-property characterization. In this regard, we provide a compelling...

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Section: Absorbance (Au)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 37mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nanoscale Chemical-Mechanical Characterization of Nanoelectronic Low-kDielectric/Cu Interconnects

Lo¹,

Dazzi

Marcott³

et al. 2015

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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“…2, the IR spectra of GPTMS/DETA and GPTMS/ AEAPTMS OIHMs showed the broad absorption band at 3389 cm -1 assigned to an -OH stretching vibration, indicating the presence of C-OH of opened epoxy rings and Si-OH of the remaining silanol groups. In general, the Si-O-Si cage and network structure show peaks in the 1200-to 1000-cm -1 region, consisting of overlapping bands from the distribution of local bond types and bond angles that exist in the microstructure [36]. The formation of a siloxane network is evident from the two characteristic absorption bands at 1114 and 1043 cm -1 , which are assigned to the asymmetric Si-O-Si stretching mode.…”

Section: Ftir Studiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Novel organic–inorganic hybrid materials based on epoxy-functionalized silanes

Sitthiracha

Kilmartin

Edmonds

2015

J Sol-Gel Sci Technol

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Hybrid materials comprising inorganic glasses and organic polymers were investigated as potential replacements for diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A to improve the thermomechanical properties of available composites. An epoxy-functionalized silane, 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS), was employed to synthesize organic-inorganic hybrid materials (OIHMs) via a sol-gel process. The oxirane ring in GPTMS was cross-linked by compounds including an aliphatic amine, diethylenetriamine, amine-functionalized silane, n-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, tertiary amine, 2,4,6-tris(dimethylaminomethyl)phenol (DMP-30), and an acid anhydride, hexahydrophthalic anhydride. OIHMs derived from a difunctional organosilane, (3-glycidoxypropyl)methyldimethoxysilane, were also synthesized to compare the mechanical properties with OIHMs derived from GPTMS. Structural characterization of cured OIHMs was performed using a combination of attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) and 29 Si solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis were used to clarify the thermal properties. The thermomechanical properties and cross-link density were evaluated using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). In this study, it was evident that the presence of inorganic networks provided a significant improvement of the thermomechanical properties, where the glass transition temperature typically increases by 20°C and the storage modulus at 150°C by nearly eight times that of neat epoxy resin. An increase in glass transition temperature, end-use temperature, and the thermomechanical behavior of OIHMs was observed and quantified using DMTA. These results corresponded to calculated increases in cross-link density.

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“…In our recent study, 17) we demonstrated the feasibility of capturing Raman spectroscopy on pattern wafers with SiCOH low-k/ultralow-k dielectric materials filled in between Cu patterns. The results showed that the Raman spectrum signal from patterned wafer is highly dependent on laser sources and FTIR spectrum is an effective complementary tool for characterizing SiCOH on patterned wafers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy of Low-k Dielectric Material on Patterned Wafers

Lam

Tan

Huang

et al. 2012

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.

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With many of research on Fourier transform IR (FTIR) on low-k materials, our experiments extended the FTIR spectroscopy application to characterization and analysis of the low-k dielectric thin film properties on patterned wafers. FTIR spectra on low-k materials were successfully captured under three sampling modes: reflection, attenuated total reflectance (ATR), and mapping mode. ATR mode is more suitable for CH x band than reflection mode due to its higher sensitivity in this range. FTIR spectroscopy signal analysis on mixed structures (metal and low-k dielectric material) on patterned wafers was also investigated with mapping mode. Based on our investigation, FTIR can be used for low-k material studies on patterned wafer. #

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Vibrational spectroscopy of low-k/ultra-low-k dielectric materials on patterned wafers

Cited by 15 publications

References 28 publications

Nanoscale Chemical-Mechanical Characterization of Nanoelectronic Low-kDielectric/Cu Interconnects

Nanoscale Chemical-Mechanical Characterization of Nanoelectronic Low-kDielectric/Cu Interconnects

Novel organic–inorganic hybrid materials based on epoxy-functionalized silanes

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy of Low-k Dielectric Material on Patterned Wafers

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