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Anisotropic Elastic Properties of Low-k DielectricMaterials
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
Abstract
A non-contact optical technique based on laser-generated surface acousticwaves (SAWs) was used to characterize elastic properties of two types ofthin (150-1100 nm) low-k films: more traditional non-porous organosilicateglass PECVD films (k=3.0) and novel mesoporous silica films fabricated insupercritical CO2 (k=2.2). The acoustic response of thenon-porous samples is well described by a model of an elastically isotropicmaterial with two elastic constants, Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio.Both parameters can be determined by analyzing SAW dispersion curves.However, the isotropic model fails to describe the SAW dispersion in themesoporous samples. Modifying the model to allow a difference betweenin-plane and out-of plane properties (i.e., a transversely isotropicmaterial) results in good agreement between the measurements and the model.The in-plane compressional modulus is found to be 2-3 times larger than theout-of plane modulus, possibly due to the anisotropic shape of the pores.Elastic anisotropy should therefore be taken into account in modelingmechanical behavior of low-k materials.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004
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