Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited SiCOH dielectrics: from low-k to extreme low-k interconnect materials

Carbon doped oxide dielectrics comprised of Si, C, O, and H (SiCOH) have been prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Low-k films with a dielectric constant (k) of about 2.8 have been deposited from tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane (TMCTS). The dielectric constant has been further reduced to extreme low-k values of k<2.1 by admixing an organic precursor to TMCTS and annealing the films to remove the organic fragments and create porosity in the films. The entire range of SiCOH films is characterized by relatively low coefficients of thermal expansion of about 12×10−6 K and mechanical properties that make them suitable for integration as the interconnect dielectric in ultralarge scale integration (ULSI) devices. The range of dielectric constants makes the films potentially useful for several generations of ULSI chips.