Physical and electrical properties of low dielectric constant self-assembled mesoporous silica thin films

The physical and electrical properties of self-assembled mesoporous silica thin films with defined 2D hexagonal porous architectures have been evaluated in the following study. Self-assembled mesoporous silica thin (MPS) films have been prepared by evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) methods using the triblock copolymer (C2H2)106(C3H3)70(C2H2)106 (Pluronic F127®). The MPS films exhibit remarkably low level leakage currents (1 × 10−8–1 × 10−7 A/cm2 at 1 MV/cm1) and high breakdown voltages (>3 MV/cm1). The films have dielectric constants of approximately 2.3, low dielectric loss factors of 0.01–0.03 and exhibit negligible frequency dispersion of dielectric constant between 100 kHz and 1 MHz. The effect of physisorbed water (humidity) upon the electrical properties of the films is also investigated using capacitance–voltage techniques.