Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
Low k material with high deterrence ability of copper diffusion has been proposed to reduce the effective electrical resistance of copper wirings. Providing organic low k material with deterrence ability was attempted by adding a chemical agent that chemically combines with copper. The insulation lifetime of the low k film with benzotriazole (BTA) as the copper scavenger was about two orders of magnitude higher than that of BTA-free low k film, at the practical electric field strength of 0.1 MV/cm. The copper diffusion deterrence ability was clearly dependent on the ability of the copper scavenger.