Optical model for spectroscopic ellipsometry analysis of plasma-induced damage to SiOC films

Abstract

We propose a new optical model for assigning the physical structure of plasma-damaged SiOC films examined by spectroscopic ellipsometry. A two-parameter Bruggeman’s effective medium approximation is used for estimating the thickness and volume fraction of a low-dielectric (ε) region (ε ∼ 1) in the SiO2 background. We introduced an optical model consisting of damaged and undamaged layers. The thickness and fraction of the damaged layer are fitted. Prediction was performed using this model for SiOC samples exposed to various plasmas, and the results were compared with those of scanning electron microscopy. We further applied this model to estimating the depth of damaged region in combination with a layer-by-layer wet-etching technique. In the case of He plasma exposure, the structural change induced by the damage extends 90–130 nm in depth. Since the degradation of interlayer dielectrics affects the circuit performance, the proposed optical model should be used for designing plasma processes.