Demonstration of a directly photopatternable spin-on-glass based on hydrogen silsesquioxane and photobase generators

A commercially available spin-on-glass material, hydrogen silsesquioxane, has been rendered photopatternable to micrometer dimensions by the introduction of a photobase generator at concentrations of < 5 wt %. The cure process proceeds via hydrolysis of the silyl hydride linkage by residual water in the film, as activated by a photogenerated base catalyst. Subsequent reaction of the generated silanol with neighboring silyl hydride groups yields a thermally stable siloxane cross-link. The photochemical cross-linking of hydrogen silsesquioxane shows high sensitivity (< 40 mJ/cm(2)) and is not inhibited by molecular oxygen. The resultant oxide films can be further cured at elevated temperature either under an inert atmosphere to minimize the dielectric constant or heated in an air atmosphere to complete the conversion to silica glass. The oxidative nature of both the photo and thermal cure processes and the release of only traces of hydrogen as byproduct results in minimal weight loss in the film during processing.