A Microfabricated Near-Field Scanned Microwave Probe for Noncontact Dielectric Constant Metrology of Low-k Films

Author(s):  
Vladimir V. Talanov ◽  
Andre Scherz ◽  
Andrew R. Schwartz
2006 ◽  
Vol 88 (19) ◽  
pp. 192906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir V. Talanov ◽  
André Scherz ◽  
Robert L. Moreland ◽  
Andrew R. Schwartz

2004 ◽  
Vol 812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir V. Talanov ◽  
Robert L. Moreland ◽  
André Scherz ◽  
Andrew R. Schwartz ◽  
Youfan Liu

AbstractWe have developed a novel microwave near-field scanning probe technique for non-contact measurement of the dielectric constant of low-k films. The technique is non-destructive, noninvasive and can be used on both porous and non-porous dielectrics without any sample preparation. The probe has a few-micron spot size, which makes the technique well suited for real time low-k metrology on production wafers. For dielectrics with k<4 the precision and accuracy are better than 2% and 5%, respectively. Results for both SOD and CVD low-k films are presented and show excellent correlation with Hg-probe measurements. Results for k-value mapping on blanket 200mm wafers are presented as well.


Author(s):  
Vladimir V. Talanov ◽  
Andrew R. Schwartz

Abstract We demonstrate the use of a near-field scanned microwave probe (NSMP) for failure analysis (FA) of parametric defects in Cu/low-k interconnect that leave no physical remnant (sometimes referred to as “non-visual defects”). This technique is rapid, quantitative, non-contact, and provides direct electrical measurements.


2004 ◽  
Vol 838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir V. Talanov ◽  
Robert L. Moreland ◽  
André Scherz ◽  
Bin Ming ◽  
Andrew R. Schwartz

ABSTRACTWe have developed a novel scanning near-field microwave probe capable of precise quantitative measurements of dielectric constant of thin dielectric films. The technique is noncontact and has a few-micron sampling spot-size. For dielectric films with k<7 and thickness down to 200 nm the probe provides precision and accuracy better than 1% and 5%, respectively. The probe is based on a balanced parallel-plate microwave transmission line operating at 4 GHz. Unlike the apertureless STM- or AFM-based schemes that have been previously employed, our “apertured” approach allows for truly quantitative measurements on a few-micron length scale with result that is insensitive to the material property outside this probing volume.We will present quantitative measurements on a variety of so-called low-k dielectric films, which are of great interest to the semiconductor industry as replacements for SiO2 in interconnect wiring. When the probe is placed in close proximity to the film under test its fringe capacitance is governed by the sample permittivity, the tip geometry, and the tip-sample separation. We measure this capacitance with a resolution down to 30 zF using a microwave resonator. Extraction of the film dielectric constant is based on an original approach providing for removal of the substrate contribution. Bulk Si and a set of variable thickness thermal oxide films are employed to calibrate the probe. There is no need to know the absolute value of the tip-sample separation for either measurement or calibration procedures; this separation must only be kept nominally the same for both measurements, which is achieved by a virtually material independent shear-force distance control.


1999 ◽  
Vol 565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Shimogaki ◽  
S. W. Lim ◽  
E. G. Loh ◽  
Y. Nakano ◽  
K. Tada ◽  
...  

AbstractLow dielectric constant F-doped silicon oxide films (SiO:F) can be prepared by adding fluorine source, like as CF4 to the conventional PECVD processes. We could obtain SiO:F films with dielectric constant as low as 2.6 from the reaction mixture of SiH4/N2 O/CF4. The structural changes of the oxides were sensitively detected by Raman spectroscopy. The three-fold ring and network structure of the silicon oxides were selectively decreased by adding fluorine into the film. These structural changes contribute to the decrease ionic polarization of the film, but it was not the major factor for the low dielectric constant. The addition of fluorine was very effective to eliminate the Si-OH in the film and the disappearance of the Si-OH was the key factor to obtain low dielectric constant. A kinetic analysis of the process was also performed to investigate the reaction mechanism. We focused on the effect of gas flow rate, i.e. the residence time of the precursors in the reactor, on growth rate and step coverage of SiO:F films. It revealed that there exists two species to form SiO:F films. One is the reactive species which contributes to increase the growth rate and the other one is the less reactive species which contributes to have uniform step coverage. The same approach was made on the PECVD process to produce low-k C:F films from C2F4, and we found ionic species is the main precursor to form C:F films.


2003 ◽  
Vol 766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-Heong Yim ◽  
Jung-Bae Kim ◽  
Hyun-Dam Jeong ◽  
Yi-Yeoul Lyu ◽  
Sang Kook Mah ◽  
...  

AbstractPorous low dielectric films containing nano pores (∼20Å) with low dielectric constant (<2.2), have been prepared by using various kinds of cyclodextrin derivatives as porogenic materials. The pore structure such as pore size and interconnectivity can be controlled by changing functional groups of the cyclodextrin derivatives. We found that mechanical properties of porous low-k thin film prepared with mCSSQ (modified cyclic silsesquioxane) precursor and cyclodextrin derivatives were correlated with the pore interconnection length. The longer the interconnection length of nanopores in the thin film, the worse the mechanical properties of the thin film (such as hardness and modulus) even though the pore diameter of the films were microporous (∼2nm).


Author(s):  
Swati Gupta ◽  
Anil Gaikwad ◽  
Ashok Mahajan ◽  
Lin Hongxiao ◽  
He Zhewei

Low dielectric constant (Low-[Formula: see text]) films are used as inter layer dielectric (ILD) in nanoelectronic devices to reduce interconnect delay, crosstalk noise and power consumption. Tailoring capability of porous low-[Formula: see text] films attracted more attention. Present work investigates comparative study of xerogel, aerogel and porogen based porous low-[Formula: see text] films. Deposition of SiO2 and incorporation of less polar bonds in film matrix is confirmed using Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR). Refractive indices (RI) of xerogel, aerogel and porogen based low-[Formula: see text] films observed to be as low as 1.25, 1.19 and 1.14, respectively. Higher porosity percentage of 69.46% is observed for porogen-based films while for shrinked xerogel films, it is lowered to 45.47%. Porous structure of low-[Formula: see text] films has been validated by using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). The pore diameters of porogen based annealed samples were in the range of 3.53–25.50 nm. The dielectric constant ([Formula: see text]) obtained from RI for xerogel, aerogel and porogen based films are 2.58, 2.20 and 1.88, respectively.


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