Adhesion of polymers on silicon substrates

1. A method for adhering a polymer to a surface of a substrate, the method comprising:

forming a substrate;

forming a modified surface of the substrate, where the modified surface comprises X—H terminations;

forming a polymer on the modified surface of the substrate, the polymer comprising a self-crosslinkable organic planarization layer (OPL) comprising hydroxyl, alkene, or alkyne functional group functional groups; and

chemically bonding the polymer to the modified surface of the substrate.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises silicon, germanium, or silicon germanium.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the surface of the substrate comprises exposing the surface of the substrate to diluted hydrofluoric acid comprising a mixture of deionized water and hydrogen fluoride at a dilution concentration of about 100 parts water to about one part hydrogen fluoride.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein X is silicon (Si) or germanium (Ge).

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the surface of the substrate comprises exposing the surface of the substrate to diluted ammonium fluoride (NH 4 F) comprising a mixture of deionized water and NH 4 F at a dilution concentration of about 100 parts water to about one part NH 4 F.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein chemically bonding the polymer to the surface of the substrate further comprises heating the substrate and the polymer to a temperature operable to chemically bond the polymer to the surface of the substrate.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein chemically bonding the polymer to the surface of the substrate further comprises chemically bonding some of the functional groups of the polymer to the X—H functional groups of the substrate.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein chemically bonding the polymer to the surface of the substrate further comprises a high temperature post apply bake (PAB) process.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the PAB process further comprises heating the substrate and the polymer to a temperature of about 225 degrees Celsius for a period of time of about one (1) minute and then heating the substrate and the polymer to a temperature of about 350 degrees Celsius for a period of time of about one (1) minute.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising removing a native oxide layer from a surface of the substrate.

11. A method for adhering an organic underlayer to a surface of a silicon wafer, the method comprising:

modifying the surface of the silicon wafer to comprise hydrosilane terminations;

spin-coating a self-crosslinkable organic planarization layer (OPL) comprising hydroxyl, alkene, or alkyne functional group terminations onto the modified surface of the silicon wafer; and

heating the silicon wafer and the self-crosslinkable OPL to a temperature operable to chemically bond the self-crosslinkable OPL to the surface of the silicon wafer.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein modifying the surface of the silicon wafer comprises exposing the surface of the silicon wafer to diluted hydrofluoric acid comprising a dilution concentration of about 100 parts water to about one part hydrogen fluoride.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein chemically bonding the self-crosslinkable OPL to the surface of the silicon wafer further comprises chemically bonding some of the hydroxyl, alkene, or alkyne functional group terminations of the self-crosslinkable OPL to the hydrosilane terminations of the silicon wafer.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein heating the silicon wafer and the self-crosslinkable OPL further comprises heating to a temperature of about 225 degrees Celsius for about one (1) minute and then heating to a temperature of about 350 degrees Celsius for about one (1) minute.

15. A semiconductor device comprising:

a silicon substrate comprising a modified surface comprising hydrosilane functional groups; and

a polymer formed on the modified surface of the substrate, the polymer comprising a self-crosslinkable polymer organic planarization layer (OPL) comprising hydroxyl, alkene, or alkyne functional groups;

wherein the polymer is chemically bonded to the modified surface of the substrate.

16. The semiconductor device of claim 15 , wherein some of the hydroxyl, alkene, or alkyne functional groups of the self-crosslinkable polymer OPL are chemically bonded to some of the hydrosilane functional groups of the substrate.