Abstract
The use of corona charge method for monitoring the electrical properties of low-k dielectrics is investigated in this paper. First, the stability and reproducibility of k measurements are demonstrated on SiO2-based low-k materials. As mercury probe is the reference tool for k and leakage measurements, a comparison of the dielectric constants and leakage currents between both techniques is carried out on a set of different low-k films with various dielectric constants and thicknesses. Good correlations (over 95%) were obtained for the k values and breakdown voltages on all studied layers and an 82% correlation has been obtained for leakage densities at 1 MV/cm. As a consequence, corona charge method seems to be a good alternative for mercury probe to monitor in-line back-end low-k films.
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Fossati, D., Beitia, C., Plantier, L. et al. In-line characterization of dielectric constant and leakage currents of low-k films with corona charge method. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 19, 115–118 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-007-9328-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-007-9328-z