Deposition and patterning of boron nitride nanotube ILD
View Patent ↗A method for forming a dielectric layer is disclosed herein. In accordance with the method, a first material is provided ( 303 ) which comprises a suspension of nanoparticles in a liquid medium. A dielectric layer is then formed ( 305 ) on the substrate from the suspension through an evaporative process.
1. A method for forming a dielectric layer, comprising:
providing a substrate;
providing a first material comprising a suspension of boron nitride nanoparticles in a liquid medium; and
forming a dielectric layer on the substrate from the suspension through an evaporative process.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer is formed in a back end of line (BEOL) process.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the dielectric layer is disposed adjacent to an interconnect structure.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer is formed through a spin-on process.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the suspension is an aqueous suspension.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said suspension comprises BNNT.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the evaporative process includes irradiating the substrate with IR radiation.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the evaporative process is a flash evaporative process.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer is formed by a non-electrolytic process.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the suspension is self-depositing.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the suspension is formed by recrystallizing the nanoparticles.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles are devoid of functional groups.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the suspension is a suspension of pure boron nitride nanoparticles disposed in a liquid medium.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer is patterned to form a MEMS device.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer is patterned to form a MEMS anchor.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer is formed through a non-catalytic process.
17. A method for forming a dielectric layer, comprising:
providing a suspension of boron nitride nanoparticles in a liquid medium; and
depositing the nanoparticles onto a substrate in a non-electrolytic manner, thereby forming a dielectric layer.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein said particles are chemically inert.
19. The method of claim 17 , wherein said particles are devoid of functional chemical groups.
20. The method of claim 17 , wherein said suspension is a pure suspension.
21. The method of claim 17 , wherein said suspension comprises at least 99% by weight of nanoparticles, based on the total weight of solids in the suspension.
22. A method for forming a dielectric layer, comprising:
providing a self-depositing suspension of boron nitride nanoparticles in a liquid medium; and
exposing a substrate to said suspension, thereby forming a layer of the nanoparticles on the substrate.
23. The method of claim 22 , wherein said boron nitride nanoparticles are BNNTs.
24. A method for forming a dielectric layer on a substrate, comprising:
providing a substrate;
providing a material comprising boron nitride nanoparticles;
forming a solution or suspension of the boron nitride nanoparticles; and
recrystallizing the nanoparticles onto the substrate;
wherein said substrate is patterned with a plurality of parallel longitudinal grooves, and wherein said nanoparticles are recrystallized onto the substrate in such a way that the nanoparticles are oriented along the common longitudinal axis of the grooves.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the nanoparticles are recrystallized as a dielectric layer.
26. A method for forming dielectric layers in a back end of line (BEOL) process, comprising:
providing a substrate;
providing a composition comprising boron nitride nanoparticles disposed in a liquid medium; and
forming a layer on the substrate from the composition.
27. The method of claim 26 , wherein said layer is a dielectric layer.
28. The method of claim 26 , wherein said composition comprises a suspension of nanoparticles in a liquid medium.
29. The method of claim 28 , wherein said dielectric layer is formed through an evaporative process.
30. The method of claim 26 , wherein said composition comprises a solution of nanoparticles in said liquid medium.
31. The method of claim 26 , wherein said composition comprises a suspension of nanoparticles in said liquid medium.
32. The method of claim 26 , wherein said composition comprises a suspension of BNNTs in said liquid medium.
33. The method of claim 26 , wherein the step of forming a dielectric layer on the substrate does not involve electrolytic deposition.
34. The method of claim 26 , wherein said nanoparticles are electrolytically inert.
35. The method of claim 26 , further comprising:
forming a mask on the layer, said mask having at least one opening defined therein; and
etching the layer through the opening with a chlorine plasma, thereby forming a trench in the layer.
36. The method of claim 35 , further comprising the step of treating the exposed surfaces of the trench with an argon plasma.
37. The method of claim 35 , further comprising the step of depositing a diffusion barrier layer over the surface of the trench.
38. The method of claim 37 , wherein the diffusion barrier comprises boron carbon nitride.
39. A method for forming a patterned dielectric layer in a back end of line (BEOL) process, comprising:
providing a substrate;
forming a dielectric layer on the substrate from a composition comprising boron nitride nanoparticles disposed in a liquid medium;
forming a mask over the dielectric layer, said mask having at least one opening defined therein; and
etching the dielectric layer with a chlorine plasma through the at least one opening.
40. The method of claim 39 , wherein the dielectric layer is patterned to form a MEMS device.
41. The method of claim 39 , wherein the dielectric layer is patterned to form a MEMS anchor.
42. The method of claim 17 , wherein the dielectric layer is formed through a spin-on process.
43. The method of claim 17 , wherein the nanoparticles are deposited by an evaporative process which includes irradiating the substrate with IR radiation.
44. The method of claim 17 , wherein the nanoparticles are deposited by a flash evaporative process.
45. The method of claim 17 , wherein the suspension is self-depositing.
46. The method of claim 17 , wherein the suspension is formed by recrystallizing the nanoparticles.
47. The method of claim 17 , wherein the nanoparticles are devoid of functional groups.