Mechanical enhancement of dense and porous organosilicate materials by UV exposure

Claim 2

A process for improving a material hardness and an elastic modulus of an organosilicate film, the process comprising: depositing the organosilicate film onto at least a portion of a substrate via chemical vapor deposition of at least one chemical reagent comprising a structure-former precursor and a pore-former precursor: and exposing the organosilicate film to an ultraviolet radiation source within a non-oxidizing atmosphere wherein the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the organosilicate film after the exposing step are higher than the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the organosilicate film before the exposing step wherein the dielectric constant of the organosilicate film after the exposing step is at least 5% less than the dielectric constant of the organosilicate film before the exposing step.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 further comprising treating the organosilicate film with a non-ionizing radiation source.

Claim 4

The process of claim 2 wherein the treating step occurs during at least a portion of the exposing step.

Claim 5

The process of claim 2 in which the non-ionizing radiation source heats the organosilicate film to a temperature between 25 to 450° C.

Claim 6

The process of claim 1 wherein the temperature of the organosilicate film during the depositing step ranges from 25 to 450° C.

Claim 7

The process of claim 5 wherein the temperature of the organosilicate film during the depositing step ranges from 250 to 450° C.

Claim 8

The process of claim 1 wherein the depositing step involves one or more processes selected from the group consisting of thermal chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, cryogenic chemical vapor deposition, chemical assisted vapor deposition, hot-filament chemical vapor deposition, photo-initiated chemical vapor deposition, or combinations thereof.

Claim 9

The process of claim 7 wherein the forming step is plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition.

Claim 10

The process of claim 1 wherein the ultraviolet light has one or more wavelengths of about 400 nm or below.

Claim 11

The process of claim 1 wherein the ultraviolet light has one or more wavelengths of about 300 nm or below.

Claim 12

The process of claim 1 wherein the ultraviolet light has one or more wavelengths of about 200 nm or below.

Claim 13

The process of claim 1 wherein the non-oxidizing atmosphere contains at least one gas selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, helium, argon, neon, krypton, xenon, radon, or mixtures thereof.

Claim 14

The process of claim 1 wherein the non-oxidizing atmosphere comprises a vacuum.

Claim 15

The process of claim 13 wherein the pressure ranges from 0.05 millitorr to 500 torr.

Claim 16

The organosilicate film prepared by the process of claim 1 .

Claim 17

A chemical vapor deposition method for improving a material hardness and an elastic modulus of an organosilicate film represented by the formula Si v O w C x F z , where v+w+x+v+z =100%, v is from 10 to 35 atomic %, w is from 10 to 65 atomic %, x is from 5 to 30 atomic %, y is from 10 to 50 atomic %, and z is from 0 to 15 atomic %, the method comprising: providing a substrate within a vacuum chamber; introducing at least one chemical reagent comprising a structure-former precursor selected from the group consisting of an organosilane and an organosiloxane and a pore-former precursor wherein at least one of pore-former precursor and the structure-former precursor is the same compound and is at least one member selected from the group consisting of 1-neohexyl-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-cyclotetrasiloxane, di-neohexyl-diethoxysilane, 1,4-bis(diethoxysilyl)cyclohexane, or mixtures thereof into the vacuum chamber; applying energy to the at least one chemical reagent in the vacuum chamber to induce reaction of the at least one chemical reagent to deposit an organosilicate film on at least a portion of the substrate; and exposing the organosilicate film to an ultraviolet light source within a non-oxidizing atmosphere wherein the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the organosilicate material after the exposing step are higher than the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the organosilicate material before the exposing step.

Claim 18

A chemical vapor deposition method for improving a material hardness and an elastic modulus of an organosilicate film represented by the formula Si v O w C x F z , where v+w+x+v+z =100%, v is from 10 to 35 atomic %, w is from 10 to 65 atomic %, x is from 5 to 30 atomic %, y is from 10 to 50 atomic %, and z is from 0 to 15 atomic %, the method comprising: providing a substrate within a vacuum chamber; introducing at least one chemical reagent comprising a structure-former precursor selected from the group consisting of an organosilane and an organosiloxane and a pore-former precursor wherein at least one of pore-former precursor and the structure-former precursor is the same compound and is at least one member selected from the group consisting of 1-neohexyl-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-cyclotetrasiloxane, di-neohexyl-diethoxysilane, 1,4-bis(diethoxysilyl)cyclohexane, or mixtures thereof into the vacuum chamber; applying energy to the at least one chemical reagent in the vacuum chamber to induce reaction of the at least one chemical reagent to deposit an organosilicate film on at least a portion of the substrate; and exposing the organosilicate film to an ultraviolet light source within a non-oxidizing atmosphere wherein the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the organosilicate material after the exposing step are higher than the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the organosilicate material before the exposing step.

Claim 19

The method of claim 16 further comprising heating the organosilicate film.

Claim 20

The method of claim 16 wherein the organosilane is at least one member from the group consisting of methylsilane, dimethylsilane, trimethylsilane, tetramethylsilane, phenylsilane, methylphenylsilane, cyclohexylsilane, tert-butylsilane, ethylsilane, diethylsilane, tetraethoxysilane, dimethyldiethoxysilane, dimethyldimethoxysilane, dimethylethoxysilane, methyldiethoxysilane, triethoxysilane, methyltriethoxysilane, trimethylphenoxysilane, phenoxysilane, ditertbutylsilane, diethoxysilane, and mixtures thereof.

Claim 21

The method of claim 16 wherein the organosiloxane is at least one member from the group consisting of 1,3,5,7-tetramethylcyclotatrasiloxane, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane, hexamethyldisiloxane, 1,1,2,2-tetramethyldisiloxane, octamethyltrisiloxane, and mixtures thereof.

Claim 22

The method of claim 16 wherein the at least one chemical reagent further comprises a pore-former precursor that is different than the structure-former precursor.

Claim 23

The method of claim 20 wherein the pore-former precursor is at least one member from the group consisting of alpha-terpinene, limonene, cyclohexane, 1,2,4-trimethylcyclohexane, 1,5-dimethyl-1,5-cyclooctadiene, camphene, adamantane, 1,3-butadiene, substituted dienes and decahydronaphthelene.

Claim 24

The method of claim 16 wherein the substrate is heated during at least a portion of the exposing step.

Claim 25

The method of claim 16 wherein the applying step is conducted at a temperature of about 250° C. or greater.

Claim 26

The organosilicate film prepared by the method of claim 16 .

Claim 27

A process for improving a material hardness and an elastic modulus of an organosilicate film having a dielectric constant, the process comprising: depositing the organosilicate film onto at least a portion of a substrate via chemical vapor deposition of at least one chemical reagent comprising a structure-former precursor provided that the at least one chemical reagent is substantially free of a pore-former precursor; and exposing the organosilicate film to an energy source comprising an ultraviolet radiation source wherein the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the organosilicate film after the exposing step are higher than the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the organosilicate film before the exposing step and wherein the dielectric constant of the organosilicate film after the exposing step is the substantially the same as or less than the dielectric constant of the organosilicate film before the exposing step.

Claim 28

A process for improving a material hardness and an elastic modulus of an organosilicate film having a dielectric constant, the process comprising: depositing the organosilicate film onto at least a portion of a substrate via chemical vapor deposition of at least one chemical reagent comprising a structure-former precursor provided that the at least one chemical reagent is substantially free of a pore-former precursor; and exposing the organosilicate film to an energy source comprising an ultraviolet radiation source wherein the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the organosilicate film after the exposing step are higher than the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the organosilicate film before the exposing step and wherein the dielectric constant of the organosilicate film after the exposing step is the substantially the same as or less than the dielectric constant of the organosilicate film before the exposing step.

Claim 29

The method of claim 25 further comprising heating the organosilicate film.

Claim 30

A process for improving a material hardness and an elastic modulus of a porous organosilicate film having a dielectric constant, the process comprising: depositing at least one chemical reagent comprising a structure-former precursor and a pore-former precursor onto at least a portion of a substrate to provide an as-deposited film; and exposing the as-deposited film to at least one energy source comprising an ultraviolet light source to remove at least a portion of the pore-former precursor contained therein and provide the porous organosilicate film wherein the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the porous organosilicate film after the exposing step are higher than a material hardness and an elastic modulus of the as-deposited film before the exposing step and wherein the dielectric constant of the porous organosilicate film after the exposing step is at least 5% less than a dielectric constant of the as-deposited film before the exposing step.

Claim 31

A process for improving a material hardness and an elastic modulus of a porous organosilicate film having a dielectric constant, the process comprising: depositing at least one chemical reagent comprising a structure-former precursor and a pore-former precursor onto at least a portion of a substrate to provide an as-deposited film; and exposing the as-deposited film to at least one energy source comprising an ultraviolet light source to remove at least a portion of the pore-former precursor contained therein and provide the porous organosilicate film wherein the material hardness and the elastic modulus of the porous organosilicate film after the exposing step are higher than a material hardness and an elastic modulus of the as-deposited film before the exposing step and wherein the dielectric constant of the porous organosilicate film after the exposing step is at least 5% less than a dielectric constant of the as-deposited film before the exposing step.

Claim 32

The method of claim 27 further comprising heating the porous organosilicate film.

Claim 33

The method of claim 28 wherein the heating is conducted during at least a portion of exposing.

Claim 34

The method of claim 28 wherein the heating is conducted after exposing.

Claim 35

The method of claim 28 wherein the heating is conducted before exposing.