Moisture-driven crack growth in blanket low dielectric constant and ultralow dielectric constant films

The crack growth velocity was measured as a function of the film thickness for a wide variety of low dielectric constant and ultralow dielectric constant (ULK) films. Crack driving force for the various films were compared by comparing crack growth velocity. The crack driving force could be minimized by reducing film stress and by increasing the modulus through a careful selection of precursors and processing conditions. The results show that the susceptibility of low-k and ULK films to stress corrosion cracking is determined by the crack driving force of the material and the fracture resistance of the material in H 2O and the crack growth behavior is very similar to conventional silicate glasses.