Pore Size Distributions in Low-k Dielectric Thin Films from X-ray Porosimetry

摘要

NIST is working to provide the semiconductor industry with detailed information on the nanoscopic pore size distribution of porous thin films destined as low-k dielectric materials for the next generation of integrated circuits. The electronics industry has chosen the introduction of nanometer scale pores into interlayer dielectric films as the method of lowering the effective dielectric constant. While these modifications change the dielectric constant favorably, other important parameters such as physical strength and barrier properties will also change, often in an unfavorable way A new method has been developed to calculate the pore size distribution from x-ray reflectivity measurements on thin films in a controlled environment of solvent vapor