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Advantages of this approach include rapid and high degrees of network condensation, low film stress, rapid cycle times, stable templates and precursors and opportunities.
About
Technology A novel process by which well ordered mesoporous films can be created by the three-dimension replication of pre-organized block copolymer templates using supercritical fluids. Mesoporous silicate, carbon and titanium dioxide films have been prepared by the infusion and selective condensation of precursors within one phase domain of highly ordered, preformed block copolymer templates using supercritical carbon dioxide as the reaction medium. The template is then removed to produce the mesoporous oxide. To date we have replicated ordered spherical and cylindrical morphologies to yield titania, silica, organosilicate and mixed silica/organosilicate mesostructures in films over 1 micron thick while maintaining all the structural details of the sacrificial copolymer template. Applications Principal applications involve the preparation of device quality thin films for microelectronics, separations, sensors and energy conversion. Extensive development of ultra-low k dielectric thin films (ULKs) has taken place. For ULKs, the first-generation of templates yielded films dielectric constants as low as 1.8. A film with k = 2.2 was selected for further evaluation and found to survive CMP in a planar test stack. The process can be scaled for full wafer production on a Si platform using existing production scale (200 mm and 300 mm wafer) tools for SCF processing.