QUANTIFICATION OF HYDROPHOBIC, AND HYDROPHILIC PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

• Main Authors: URBANOWICZ ADAM MICHAL, BAKLANOV MIKHAIL
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 26.03.2009
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIRCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; MEASURING; PHYSICS; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; TESTING

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a non-destructive and simple analytical method which allows in-situ monitoring of plasma damage during the plasma processing, such as, resist stripping. SOLUTION: If a low-dielectric-constant (low-k) film is damaged during plasma processing, one of the reaction products is water, which is left adsorbed on the low-dielectric-constant film (into pores), if the temperature is lower than 100-150°C. A plasma (e.g. He) that emits high-energy EUV photons (E>20 eV) which is able to destroy water molecules forming electronically excited oxygen atoms is used to detect the adsorbed water. Excited oxygen is detected from optical emission at 777 nm. Thus, the higher the adsorbed water concentration (higher damage) is, the stronger the (oxygen) signal is detected. The intensity of oxygen signal becomes a measure of plasma damage in the previous strip step. The proposed analytical method can be performed in-situ, immediately after plasma processing. Most preferentially, optical emission of oxygen radicals is monitored, during the chucking step inside a plasma chamber. COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT