Porous SiO2 thin films for ULSI applications

The SiO 2 porous dielectric thin films have been sucessfully deposited by spin coating technique using HF as catalyst. The FTIR shows the main stretching Si-O-Si peak at 1074 cm -1 confirms the deposition of SiO 2 thin film. The refractive index (RI) and thickness of deposited film measured using ellipsometer is 1.3332 and 2868 A 0 respectively. The porosity calculated from the RI is 27.4 % and dielectric constant is determined to be of 3.1. The SEM image confirms the presence of nanopores in the films. These nanopores enhance the film strength and lowers the dielectric constant which improves the suitability of the film to be used as an interlayer dielectrics for ULSI applications.