Evaluation of plasma damage in ultra-low-k materials with cap film using “extracted k-value” method

An “extracted k-value” method has been developed for evaluating postdevice-process damage in ultra-low-k materials inside a multi-layer structure. It is found that an in-depth analysis with using X-ray reflectivity (XRR) is very effective for recognizing the nature of the damage. With these methods, it is investigated that the damage generated in porous methylsilsesquioxane (MSQ) during cap-film deposition and the effect of subsequent process for the improvement.