Materials Issues and Characterization of Low-k Dielectric Materials

Continuing improvement in device density and performance has significantly affected the dimensions and complexity of the wiring structure for on-chip interconnects. These enhancements have led to a reduction in the wiring pitch and an increase in the number of wiring levels to fulfill demands for density and performance improvements. As device dimensions shrink to less than 0.25 μm, the propagation delay, crosstalk noise, and power dissipation due to resistance-capacitance (RC) coupling become significant. Accordingly the interconnect delay now constitutes a major fraction of the total delay limiting the overall chip performance. Equally important is the processing complexity due to an increase in the number of wiring levels. This inevitably drives cost up by lowering the manufacturing yield due to an increase in defects and processing complexity.To address these problems, new materials for use as metal lines and interlayer dielectrics (ILDs) and alternative architectures have surfaced to replace the current Al(Cu)/SiO2 interconnect technology. These alternative architectures will require the introduction of low-dielectric-constant k materials as the interlayer dielectrics and/or low-resistivity conductors such as copper. The electrical and thermomechanical properties of SiO2 are ideal for ILD applications, and a change to material with different properties has important process-integration implications. To facilitate the choice of an alternative ILD, it is necessary to establish general criterion for evaluating thin-film properties of candidate low-k materials, which can be later correlated with process-integration problems.