MEASURING PATTERN QUALITY AND POROSITY OF DIELECTRIC INSULATOR FILMS DIRECTRLY PATTERNED BY NANOIMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY

Hyun Wook Ro, Huagen Peng, Daniel R. Hines, Hae-Jeong Lee, Ronald L. Jones,Eric K. Lin, Alamgir Karim, Do Y. Yoon, David W. Gidley, Christopher L. Soles

Directly patterning of interlayer dielectrics (ILDs) via nanoimprint lithography has the potential to simplify fabrication processes and significantly reduce the manufacturing costs for the next generation semiconductor devices.  However, the prospect of mechanically forming these materials, especially in their porous form, raises concerns regarding their physical integrity and pore structure.  We report the first direct imprinting of sub-100 nm features into a high modulus Poly(methylsilsequioxane) (PMSQ)-based resin creating nanoporous ILD patterns  An excellent fidelity of the pattern transfer process is quantified with nm precision using critical dimension small angle X-ray scattering and specular X-ray reflectivity.  X-ray porosimetry and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy measurements indicate that imprinting increases the inherent microporosity of the ILD pattern.  When a porogen is added, imprinting decreases the population of mesopores associated with the porogen while retaining the enhanced microporosity.  The net effect is a decrease the pore interconnectivity.  There is also evidence for a sealing effect that is interpreted as an imprint induced dense skin at the surface of the porous pattern.

Hyun Wook Ro

National Institute of Standards and Technology
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Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8541, USA
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Non-Member

Materials

Mentor: Christopher L. Soles