Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T01:31:03.063Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mechanical Characterization of Sub-Micron Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

B. N. Lucas ,
C. T. Rosenmayer  and
W. C. Oliver
B. N. Lucas
Affiliation:
Nano Instruments, Inc., 1001 Larson Drive, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
C. T. Rosenmayer
Affiliation:
W. L. Gore and Associates, Inc., 1414 West Hamilton Ave., Eau Claire, WI 54701
W. C. Oliver
Affiliation:
Nano Instruments, Inc., 1001 Larson Drive, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
Get access

Abstract

This study reports the results of an investigation of the mechanical properties of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin films on silicon substrates in the 0.5 to 15 μm thickness regime using frequency specific depth-sensing indentation. All measurements were conducted at an excitation frequency of 45 Hz using a constant (1/P dP/dt) load ramp of 0.1 s−1. The modulus of the PTFE at a depth of 5% of the film thickness was measured to be approximately 1 GPa (v = 0.46) independent of film thickness. These values are somewhat higher than the values obtained from free-standing 15 μm film measurements of 0.4 GPa for the tensile modulus and 0.49 GPa for the storage modulus @ 1.1 Hz. The film hardness at these depths was observed to range between 30 and 55 MPa with no correlation observed between the hardness and respective film thickness. While reliability modeling for interconnects currently uses interlayer dielectric mechanical properties data determined from free-standing films with thicknesses of several microns, these insitu results should more closely mimic the constrained deformation that occurs during service and perhaps lead to a better understanding of the electromigration resistance of PTFE.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 505 , 1997 , 97
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.Jeng, S.-P., Havemann, R., and Chang, M. in Advanced Metallization for Devices and Circuits - Science,Technology and Manufacturing, eds. Murarka, S. P., et al. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc 337, 1994)Google Scholar
2.Jeng, S.-P., Chang, M., Kroger, T., McAnally, P., and HAvemann, R., VLSI Tech. Symp. Tech. Dig., 73 (1994).Google Scholar
3.Lee, W. W. and Ho, P. S., Low-Dielectric Constant Materials for ULSI Interlayer-Dielectric Applications, in MRS Bulletin, 22, 1997, p. 19.Google Scholar
4.Ryan, E. T., McKerrow, A. J., Leu, J., and Ho, P. S., Materials Issues and Characterization of Low-k Dielectric Materials, in MRS Bulletin, 22, 1997, p. 49.Google Scholar
5.Loubet, J.-L., Lucas, B. N., and Oliver, W. C. in NIST Special Publication 896, Conference Proceedings: International Workshop on Instrumented Indentation, eds. Smith, D. T. (NIST 1995) 31.Google Scholar
6.Pethica, J. B. and Oliver, W. C. in Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties, eds. Bravman, J. C., et al. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 130, 1989) 13.Google Scholar
7.Lucas, B. N., Ph. D. Dissertation, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1997.Google Scholar
8.Stilwell, N. A. and Tabor, D., Proc. Phys. Soc. London, 78, 169 (1961).Google Scholar
9.Doerner, M. F. and Nix, W. D., J. Maters. Res., 1, 601 (1986).Google Scholar
10.Oliver, W. C. and Pharr, G. M., J. Mater. Res., 7, 1564 (1992).Google Scholar
11.Toyoda, H., Sakabe, H., Itoh, T., and Konishi, T., Sen'i Gakkaishi (Translated from Japanese), 52, 28 (1996).Google Scholar
12.Sun, S. C., Chiang, Y. C., Rosenmayer, C. T., Teguh, J., and Wu, H. in Low Dielectric Constant Materials, eds. T.-M., Lu, et al. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 381, 1996) 463.Google Scholar
13.Lucas, B. N., Oliver, W. C., Pharr, G. M., and Loubet, J.-L. in Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties, eds. Gerberich, W. W., et al. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 436, 1996)Google Scholar
14.Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering, 577 (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1989).Google Scholar
15.Rosenmayer, C. T., Bartz, J. W., and Hammes, J. in Low Dielectric Constant Materials III, eds. C., Case, et al. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 443, 1997)Google Scholar
16.Bolshakov, A. and Pharr, G. M., Journal of Materials Research, In Press, (1997).Google Scholar
17.Tsui, T. Y., Oliver, W. C., and Pharr, G. M. in Thin Films: Stresses and Mechanical Properties, eds. W., Gerberich, et al. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 436, 1996) 207.Google Scholar