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Applied Physics Letters / Volume 96 / Issue 22 / NANOSCALE SCIENCE AND DESIGN

Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 223108 (2010); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3442496 (3 pages)

Three-dimensional imaging of pore structures inside low-κ dielectrics

Huolin L. Xin1, Peter Ercius2, Kevin J. Hughes3, James R. Engstrom3, and David A. Muller2

1Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
2School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
3School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA

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(Received 24 February 2010; accepted 16 April 2010; published online 2 June 2010)

The three-dimensional reconstruction of a porous low-dielectric constant film (κ = 2.5), resolving pores as small as 1 nm, was achieved using annular dark-field scanning transmission electron tomography, enabling quantitative measurements of the pore morphologies and size distribution. Most large pores were elliptical. Together with log-normal pore-size distribution, this suggests pore coalescence during the material’s growth. Ellipsometric porosimetry indicates a high degree of interconnectivity between pores. Tomography shows the material exhibits little large-scale pore connectivity, thus placing an upper limit on the size of the interconnections at below 1 nm. Systematic errors in the tomographic and ellipsometric size distributions appear to be largely complementary.

© 2010 American Institute of Physics

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

low-k dielectric thin films, nanoporous materials, porosity, porous materials

PACS

  • 77.55.Bh

    Low-permittivity dielectric films

  • 61.46.-w

    Structure of nanoscale materials

  • 61.43.Gt

    Powders, porous materials

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3442496

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0003-6951 (print)  
1077-3118 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

For access to fully linked references, you need to log in.
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    P. Ercius, M. Weyland, D. A. Muller, and L. M. Gignac, Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 243116 (2006)APPLAB000088000024243116000001.


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