EAPSI: The Effects of High Energy Radiation on the Processing of Electronic Materials

本研究考察了高能辐射的影响以及与计算进步所需的新材料的相关相互作用。由于集成电路的尺寸不断缩小，已经开发出新的材料来对抗由于元件接近造成的负面影响。这些新材料必须能够经受住许多制造过程的考验。这些材料必须经受的一个重要过程是等离子体处理，在此过程中存在高能辐射，并可能导致许多负面影响。随着同步辐射的使用，高能量辐射造成的损害可以单独观察，从而洞察这些材料的进步。台湾的国家同步辐射研究中心拥有与等离子体相对应的束流能量，并且有时间进行必要的实验。此外，本集团与林义鸿博士及本中心亦有合作，确保在此开展的活动既高效又成功。损坏是一个关键问题，因为在等离子体加工过程中，具有极紫外线能量的带电粒子和光子可以撞击电介质或在加工气体中产生离子或自由基。在低k介电材料中，这会导致各种类型的损伤，包括电荷积聚、附加缺陷的形成、化学重构和机械性能退化。这些损伤效应可能导致微电子器件内的击穿时间（TDDB）缩短。然而，如果不了解TDDB与损伤效应之间的关系，就很难改善材料的介电性能，从而减缓TDDB的过程。该项目将允许开发一种计量方法，可以预测由加工等离子体暴露引起的TDDB，包括电荷积累、缺陷形成、化学变化和机械变化以及金属植入。通过选择合适的光子能量，UV/VUV照射可以改善电介质的性能，从而减轻或消除TDDB和其他损伤。该奖项由NSF与台湾科学技术部合作资助。

This research examines the effects of high energy radiation and related interactions with new materials required for the advancement of computing. Due to the ever shrinking size of integrated circuits, new materials have been developed to combat negative effects due to component proximity. These new materials must be able to survive many of processes required for fabrication. One important process that these materials must endure is plasma processing, during which high energy radiation is present and can cause a multitude of negative effects. With the use of synchrotron radiation, damage caused by high energy radiation can be solely observed allowing insight to the advancement of these materials. The National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center in Taiwan has beam energies which correspond to those that would be present in plasma as well as having time available to perform the necessary experiments. In addition, our group has previous collaborations with Dr. Yi-Hung Lin and this facility, ensuring that activities carried out here will be both efficient and successful.Damage is a critical issue because during plasma processing, charged particles and photons with energies up the extreme ultraviolet can strike dielectrics or create ions or free radicals in the processing gas. This results in various kinds of damage, including charge buildup, formation of additional defects, chemical restructuring, and mechanical property degradation in low-k dielectric materials. These damage effects are likely to result in shorter time-to-breakdown (TDDB) within microelectronic devices. However, without understanding the relations ship between TDDB and damage effects, it is difficult to improve the dielectric properties so as to slow/mitigate the process of TDDB. This project will allow the development of a metrology that can predict TDDB caused by processing plasma exposure, including charge buildup, defect formation, chemical changes and mechanical changes as well as by metal implantation. By suitable choice of photon energy, UV/VUV exposure can be used to improve the properties of the dielectric so that TDDB and other damage can be mitigated or eliminated. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan.