Abstract
Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation is generated during plasma processing in semiconductor fabrications, while the effect of VUV irradiation on the dielectric constant (k value) of low-k materials is still an open question. To clarify this problem, VUV photons with a range of energies were exposed on low-k organosilicate dielectrics (SiCOH) samples at room temperature. Photon energies equal to or larger than 6.0 eV were found to decrease the k value of SiCOH films. VUV photons with lower energies do not have this effect. This shows the need for thermal heating in traditional ultraviolet (UV) curing since UV light sources do not have sufficient energy to change the dielectric constant of SiCOH and additional energy is required from thermal heating. In addition, 6.2 eV photon irradiation was found to be the most effective in decreasing the dielectric constant of low-k organosilicate films. Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy shows that these 6.2 eV VUV exposures removed organic porogens. This contributes to the decrease of the dielectric constant. This information provides the range of VUV photon energies that could decrease the dielectric constant of low-k materials most effectively.
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