Nanoscale buckling of ultrathin low-k dielectric lines during hard-mask patterning

Published

May 7, 2015

Author(s)

Gheorghe Stan, Cristian V. Ciobanu, Igor Levin, Mark van Veenhuizen, Alan Myers, Kanwal Singh, Christopher Jezewski, Barbara Miner, Sean King

Abstract

Commonly known in macroscale mechanics, buckling phenomena are now frequently also encountered in the nanoscale world as reveled in today's cutting-edge fabrication of microelectronics. The description of nanoscale buckling requires precise dimensional and elastic moduli measurements, as well as a thorough understanding of the causal relationships between stresses in the system and the ensuing morphologies. Here, the buckling mechanics of nanoscale TiN-capped organosilicate fins was analyzed quantitatively. The buckling patterns generated by residual stresses during processing were captured in an analytical model using dimensional, waviness, stiffness, and stress measurements. The predictions of our model of buckling analysis were verified for structures with various degrees of buckling, resulting into a working framework for guiding the future control design of nanoscale interconnect architectures.

Citation

Nano Letters

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

nanoscale buckling, patterned low-k dielectrics

Citation

Stan, G. , Ciobanu, C. , Levin, I. , van, M. , Myers, A. , Singh, K. , Jezewski, C. , Miner, B. and King, S. (2015), Nanoscale buckling of ultrathin low-k dielectric lines during hard-mask patterning, Nano Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=917567 (Accessed October 11, 2025)