Carbon‐Enriched Amorphous Hydrogenated Boron Carbide Films for Very‐Low‐k Interlayer Dielectrics
Abstract
A longstanding challenge in ultralarge‐scale integration has been the continued improvement in low‐dielectric‐constant (low‐k) interlayer dielectric materials and other specialized layers in back‐end‐of‐the‐line interconnect fabrication. Modeled after the success of carbon‐containing organosilicate materials, carbon‐enriched amorphous hydrogenated boron carbide (a‐BxC:Hy) films are grown by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition from ortho‐carborane and methane. These films contain more extraicosahedral sp3 hydrocarbon groups than nonenriched a‐BxC:Hy films, as revealed by FTIR and NMR spectroscopy, and also exhibit lower dielectric constants than their nonenriched counterparts, notably due to low densities combined with a low distortion and orientation contribution to the total polarizability. Films with dielectric constant as low as 2.5 are reported with excellent electrical stability (leakage current of 10−9 A cm−2 at 2 MV cm−1 and breakdown voltage of >6 MV cm−1), good thermal conductivity of 0.31 ± 0.03 W m−1 K−1, and high projected Young's modulus of 12 ± 3 GPa. These properties rival those of leading SiOC:H materials, and position a‐BxC:Hy as an important complement to traditional Si‐based materials to meet the complex needs of next‐generation interconnect fabrication.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 21, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1002/aelm.201700116
Entities
People
- Anthony N. Caruso
- Bradley J. Nordell
- David W. Gidley
- John T. Gaskins
- Michelle M. Paquette
- Nathan A. Oyler
- Patrick E Hopkins
- Patrick Henry
- Sean W. King
- Sudhaunshu S. Purohit
- Thuong D. Nguyen
- W. A. Lanford
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Intel Corporation
- Office of Naval Research
- State University of New York at Albany
- University of Michigan
- University of Missouri–Kansas City
- University of Virginia