A comparative study of spin-on and chemical vapor deposited Teflon amorphous fluoropolymer thin films

Dielectric materials with dielectric constant (K) less than the conventionally used SiO2 (K = 3.9) are gaining importance particularly for low voltage operated integrated circuits due to their ability to reduce signal propagation delays, power dissipation, and cross talk when used as interconnect dielectrics. In this paper, we report for the first time a low temperature chemical vapor deposition technique for the deposition of the copolymeric Teflon amorphous fluoropolymer 1600 which is a new low K material with a value of K of about 1.93. The principle of direct Liquid injection in an ultraviolet (UV) light-assisted rapid isothermal processing system was followed. The film properties for films processed using our technique and the conventional spin-on method were compared. A significant improvement in dielectric performance and material usage efficiency was observed for the films processed using chemical vapor deposition.