Low Dielectric Constant Mesoporous Silica Films Through Molecularly Templated Synthesis

Abstract

Nanoporous silica films are of interest to the semiconductor industryas low dielectric constant intermetal materials. Here the controlled synthesis of highly porous silica films with dielectric constants between ≈1.8 and ≈2.5 is described using a polyethylene ether surfactant to template the porosity and a spin-on sol-gel process to deposit the films. The dielectric properties of the resulting films are investigated as a function of surface chemistry and a correlation is established. These films are promising as semiconductor interconnnect materials as they have suitable surface texture, thickness, and elastic modulus.