Adhesion properties of a structural etch stop material for use in multilayer electronic wiring structures

A thermally stable copolymer of a polyimide and a dianiline terminated polydimethylsiloxane has been developed for use as a structural oxygen etch barrier material in high performance multilayer electronic wiring structures. We report on the preparation of the etch barrier material and on investigations of the etch stop and adhesion properties of this material. Studies on the effects of adhesion-promoting plasma treatments are supported by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) data. Before plasma treatment, it is observed that the siloxane component segregates to the surface. After either an O2 reactive ion etch treatment or H2O plasma exposure, the unusual XPS charging effects are interpreted as a surface layer containing two distinct phases: the etched polyimide fraction and a partial overlayer of a carbon containing SiO. © 1995, Materials Research Society. All rights reserved.