Titanium reaction products

1. GOALI:Nanoscale Characterization and Development of Ultra Low-k Dielectric Xerogel FilmsR.F. Reidy1, M.J. Kim2, D.W. Mueller1, P.D. Matz3, 1Univ. of North Texas, 2Univ. of Texas-Dallas, 3Texas Instruments, DMR #0316916 Titanium reaction products To meet future demands for faster, smarter, and smaller electronic devices, insulating layers will likely incorporate pores to meet device requirements. Porosity renders the film vulnerable to damage from plasma processing and subsequent intrusion of metallic species. We have developed a method of supercritical functionalization using hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) to prevent this intrusion. In the adjacent micrographs, the ability of this functionalization to block a titanium nitride precursor (TDMAT) from penetration into the porous low-k (MSQ) is demonstrated. We have also shown the viability of this method for other barrier materials such as ruthenium. This and related work were presented at two invited talks: Ultra Clean Processing of Semiconductor Surfaces (Brussels) and the American Physical Society (Los Angeles). Porous MSQ no Ti species 500nm 500nm O2-ashed MSQ after exposure to TDMAT O2-ashed MSQ treated by HMDS followed by exposure to TDMAT Supercritical HMDS prevents penetration of metal species into the ashed-damaged porous MSQ potentially leading to improved device reliability.

2. Education: One undergraduate (Eugene Chaung), four graduate students (Rosa Orozco-Teran, Du Mingming, Pawan Nerusu, Dongkyu Cha), and one research scientist (Peter Capani) contributed to this work and were supported by this grant. Orozco-Teran interned at Texas Instruments last summer, completed her PhD in February 2005, and is currently employed in the Silicon Technology and Development division of Texas Instruments. Eugene Chaung was a co-author in an article published in an MRS proceeding. Students regularly discuss relevant project and material issues with our Texas Instruments liaison maintaining awareness of industrial priorities. GOALI:Nanoscale Characterization and Development of Ultra Low-k Dielectric Xerogel FilmsR.F. Reidy1, M.J. Kim2, D.W. Mueller1, P.D. Matz3, 1Univ. of North Texas, 2Univ. of Texas-Dallas, 3Texas Instruments, DMR #0316916 Outreach: We participated in a Science Day program at a local school presenting talks to elementary and middle school students entitled “What do Materials Scientists Do?” With colleagues at UNT, we proposed an RET program involving local secondary science teachers in nanotechnology research. Regrettably, this proposal was not funded. This Fall, we hope to downscale this effort involving only two science teachers in an addendum to this GOALI program. We have also collaborated with the UNT College of Education in a NSF proposal to improve science education to underprivileged middle school students– this effort was also not funded.