Molecular modeling of low-k films of carbon-doped silicon oxides for theoretical investigations of the mechanical and dielectric properties

For theoretical studies on the mechanical and dielectric properties of low dielectric constant (low-k) films of carbon doped SiO2 (SiOCH), the authors developed a method to create molecular models of amorphous polymers with cross-links. This method generates chemically possible molecular structures from a given atom-group composition. They have applied this method to the molecular modeling of a typical SiOCH low-k film which is made by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. They have confirmed that this method creates reasonable SiOCH film structures that explain the experimental results of infrared spectrum, dielectric constant, and Young's modulus. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.