Deposition of low dielectric constant SiOC films by using an atmospheric pressure microplasma jet

Low dielectric constant (low-k) SiOC films have been prepared by using an atmospheric pressure microplasma jet (APPJ) from mixtures of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and argon (Ar). By decreasing the Ar flow rate from 10 to 2 slm, the dielectric constant of films can be reduced almost linearly to values of about 2.1. Moreover, the film deposition rate increases dramatically to the maximum value of 23 nm s(-1), which is much higher than that in a low pressure plasma chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) system. The leakage current density of films increases with increasing electric field, but has a low value of 1 x 10(-8) A cm(-2) at 1 x 10(6) V cm(-1), which is similar to the value of samples deposited by LPCVD. It has promising applications as interconnect dielectrics for future generations of advanced integrated circuits (ICs), in addition, demonstrating the feasibility of using APPJ as a substitute for costly and cumbersome low pressure equipment in the production process.