Synthesis and characterization of porous polymeric low dielectric constant films

This paper reports the synthesis and dielectric properties of a porous poly(arylether) material with an ultra-low dielectric constant for interlayer dielectric applications in microelectronics. The porous polymer films were successfully fabricated by a method of organic phase separation and evaporation. A dielectric constant k of 1.8 was achieved for a porous film with an estimated porosity of 40% and average pore size of 3 nm. Electrical and mechanical properties as well as coefficient of thermal expansion for both dense and porous polymer films were measured.