Nondestructive in situ characterization of molecular structures at the surface and buried interface of silicon-supported low-k dielectric films.

As low-k dielectric/copper interconnects continue to scale down in size, the interfaces of low-k dielectric materials will increasingly determine the structure and properties of the materials. We report an in situ nondestructive characterization method to characterize the molecular structure at the surface and buried interface of silicon-supported low-k dielectric thin films using interface sensitive infrared-visible sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy (SFG). Film thickness-dependent reflected SFG signals were observed, which were explained by multiple reflections of the input and SFG beams within the low-k film.

Toughening thin-film structures with ceramic-like amorphous silicon carbide films.

A significant improvement of adhesion in thin-film structures is demonstrated using embedded ceramic-like amorphous silicon carbide films (a-SiC:H films). a-SiC:H films exhibit plasticity at the nanoscale and outstanding chemical and thermal stability unlike most materials. The multi-functionality and the ease of processing of the films have potential to offer a new toughening strategy for reliability of nanoscale device structures.

Tunable plasticity in amorphous silicon carbide films.

Plasticity plays a crucial role in the mechanical behavior of engineering materials. For instance, energy dissipation during plastic deformation is vital to the sufficient fracture resistance of engineering materials. Thus, the lack of plasticity in brittle hybrid organic-inorganic glasses (hybrid glasses) often results in a low fracture resistance and has been a significant challenge for their integration and applications.