Effect of CH4 plasma on porous dielectric modification & pore sealing for advanced interconnect technology nodes

Author

Aimadeddine, M. ; Arnal, V. ; Roy, D. ; Farcy, A. ; David, T. ; Chevolleau, T. ; Possémé, N. ; Vitiello, J. ; Chapelon, L.L. ; Guedj, C. ; Brechet, Y. ; Volpi, F. ; Torres, J.

Author_Institution

STMicroelectronics, Crolles

fYear

2006

fDate

5-7 June 2006

Firstpage

81

Lastpage

83

Abstract

Patterning and ashing are known to be critical steps to the integration of porous ultra low-k dielectrics in interconnects, mainly due to low-k damage during these processes. In this paper, we investigate the impact of a new methane based ash chemistry on the sidewall modification of the porous dielectric. Physical and electrical characterizations of the integrated low-k evidence a sealing effect of CH₄ plasma on dielectric sidewalls as well as a gain in reliability compared to other known plasma chemistries. The impact of CH ₄ chemistry on leakage mechanism is also investigated

Keywords

integrated circuit interconnections; low-k dielectric thin films; plasma chemistry; porous materials; reliability; sputter etching; CH₄; interconnect technology; methane based ash chemistry; pore sealing; porous dielectric modification; sidewall modification; ultra low-k dielectrics; Ash; Copper; Dielectric materials; Etching; Helium; Plasma applications; Plasma chemistry; Plasma materials processing; Plasma measurements; Plasma properties;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Interconnect Technology Conference, 2006 International

Conference_Location

Burlingame, CA

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0104-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IITC.2006.1648652

Filename

1648652