Method for improving mechanical properties of low dielectric constant materials
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of forming a dielectric layer having a low dielectric constant and high mechanical strength, the method comprising:
- (a) depositing a first sub-layer of the dielectric material on a substrate;
(b) treating the sub-layer with a plasma in a manner that improves the mechanical strength of the dielectric layer;
(c) depositing an additional sub-layer of the dielectric material on the previous sub-layer which was plasma treated; and
(d) plasma treating the additional sub-layer in a manner that improves the mechanical strength of the dielectric layer;
wherein each of (a) through (d) uses a plasma and is performed in a single reaction chamber and wherein the plasma used for operations (a)-(d) is ignited at the beginning of the process defined by operations (a)-(d) and maintained during the entire process.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods of forming a dielectric layer having a low dielectric constant and high mechanical strength are provided. The methods involve depositing a sub-layer of the dielectric material on a substrate, followed by treating the sub-layer with a plasma. The process of depositing and plasma treating the sub-layers is repeated until a desired thickness has been reached.
160 Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A method of forming a dielectric layer having a low dielectric constant and high mechanical strength, the method comprising:
-
(a) depositing a first sub-layer of the dielectric material on a substrate; (b) treating the sub-layer with a plasma in a manner that improves the mechanical strength of the dielectric layer; (c) depositing an additional sub-layer of the dielectric material on the previous sub-layer which was plasma treated; and (d) plasma treating the additional sub-layer in a manner that improves the mechanical strength of the dielectric layer;
wherein each of (a) through (d) uses a plasma and is performed in a single reaction chamber and wherein the plasma used for operations (a)-(d) is ignited at the beginning of the process defined by operations (a)-(d) and maintained during the entire process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
Specification