Abstract
Polyimide (PI) films have been studied widely as the interlayer dielectric materials due to a low dielectric constant, low water absorption, high gap-fill and planarization capability. The polyimide film was etched using inductively coupled plasma system. The etcying characteristics such as etch rate and selectivity were evaluated at different $CF_4/(CF_4+O_2)$chemistry. The maximum etch rate was 8300 ${\AA}/min$ and the selectivity of polyimide to SiO$_2$was 5.9 at $CF_4/(CF_4+O_2)$ of 0.2. Etch profile of polyimide film with an aluminum pattern was measured by a scanning electron microscopy. The vertical profile was approximately $90^{\circ}$ at $CF_4/(CF_4+O_2)$ of 0.2. As 20% $CF_4$ were added into $O_2$ plasma from the results of the optical emission spectroscopy, the radical densities of fluorine and oxygen increased with increasing $CF_4$ concentration in $CF_4/O_2$ from 0 to 20%, resulting in the increased etch rate. The surface reaction of etched PI films was investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
