Investigation of Argon Plasma Damage on Ultra Low-κ Dielectrics

A porous ultra low-kappa dielectric (pULK) and a dense SiCOH dielectric were investigated before and after a plasma treatment with argon in terms of the change in the bonding types, the relative permittivity and the water uptake. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed a change in the bonding types of the dielectrics in general and a significant increase in the hydroxyl band especially. The high hydroxyl amount leads to an increase in the relative permittivity of these dielectrics by up to 6.25% for SiCOH and up to 12.5% for the pULK material. Furthermore, if water diffuses into the dielectric films from the environment, the moisture uptake is up to 2.7 times higher in saturation at 80% relative humidity in comparison to the untreated samples. Due to the plasma damaged upper layer of the materials, the diffusion process of water into the bulk dielectrics is significant reduced. Overall, it has been found that the pULK material is more vulnerable to the used plasma treatment in comparison to the dense SiCOH film. (C) 2014 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.