Abstract
Hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) vapor treatment of plasma-damaged nanoporous organosilicate thin films has been studied as a function of treatment temperature in this work. Although, the HMDS vapor treatment facilitated incorporation of methyl (CH 3 ) groups subsequent to the removal of free hydroxyl (OH) groups in the damaged films at treatment temperature as low as 55 °C, the bonded OH groups were not removed. More significantly, detailed analysis of the results reveals that HMDS vapor modified only the surface of the plasma-damaged samples and not the entire film as expected. This is attributed to the formation of a thin solid layer on the surface, which effectively prevents penetration of HMDS vapors into the bulk. The Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) absorption and dielectric constant measurements confirm that the vapor treatment assists only partial curing of the plasma-damaged films. Alternative processes of curing the films with HMDS dissolved in supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO 2 ) as a medium of reaction in static and pulsed modes were also attempted and the results are presented in this paper.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 6323-6331 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Applied Surface Science |
Volume | 252 |
Issue number | 18 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 15 2006 |
Keywords
- Low-k
- Plasma-damage
- Porous films
- Supercritical CO