Homogeneous porous low dielectric constant materials
View Patent ↗In one exemplary embodiment, a method includes: providing a structure having a first layer overlying a substrate, where the first layer includes a dielectric material having a plurality of pores; applying a filling material to an exposed surface of the first layer; heating the structure to a first temperature to enable the filling material to homogeneously fill the plurality of pores; after filling the plurality of pores, performing at least one process on the structure; and after performing the at least one process, removing the filling material from the plurality of pores by heating the structure to a second temperature to decompose the filling material.
1. A method comprising:
providing a structure comprising a first layer overlying a substrate, where the first layer comprises a dielectric material having a plurality of pores;
applying a filling material to an exposed surface of the first layer;
heating the structure to a first temperature to enable the filling material to homogeneously fill the plurality of pores;
after filling the plurality of pores, performing at least one process on the structure; and
after performing the at least one process, removing the filling material from the plurality of pores by heating the structure to a second temperature to decompose the filling material, wherein the homogeneous filling of the plurality of pores comprises a substantially thorough, complete and uniform filling of the plurality of pores with the filling material.
2. The method of claim 1 , where the homogeneous filling of the plurality of pores results in the first layer having a substantially uniform composition.
3. The method of claim 1 , where the filling material comprises a polymer or a material having a weight average molecular weight below about 10,000 g/mol.
4. The method of claim 1 , where the first temperature is dependent on a size of the plurality of pores and a composition of the filling material.
5. The method of claim 1 , where the first temperature is dependent on a composition of the dielectric material.
6. The method of claim 1 , where the second temperature is greater than the first temperature.
7. The method of claim 1 , where the first temperature is dependent on at least one of a composition of the filling material and a characteristic of the filling material.
8. The method of claim 1 , where the first temperature is selected to ensure homogeneous filling of the plurality of pores with the filling material.
9. The method of claim 1 , where removing the filling material from the plurality of pores further comprises using ultraviolet irradiation.
10. The method of claim 1 , where the filling material comprises a monomer and a photo initiator, the method further comprising: after filling the plurality of pores and prior to performing the at least one process, exposing the structure to ultraviolet radiation to convert the filling material into a polymer.
11. The method of claim 1 , where the dielectric material of the provided first layer has reached its maximum shrinkage, where the filling material comprises a monomer and a radical initiator, where heating the structure to the first temperature converts the filling material into a polymer.
12. The method of claim 1 , where heating the structure to a first temperature to enable the filling material to homogeneously fill the plurality of pores comprises filling 5% to 100% of the plurality of the pores with the filling material.
13. The method of claim 1 , implemented as a program of instructions tangibly embodied on a program storage device, execution of the program of instructions by an apparatus resulting in operations comprising the steps of the method.