Mechanical Properties of Polymer Dielectric Films at ElevatedTemperatures

The miniaturization of microelectronics has led to the use of polymer dielectric films with a thickness less than a micrometer. The use of polymer dielectric films has introduced new failure modes. To have a better understanding of these failures, knowledge of the mechanical properties is necessary. The through-plane elastic modulus and change in permittivity for a 1 mum thick Cyclotenetrade 4022 film sandwiched by two aluminium electrodes on a silicon wafer are reported. Two circular parallel plate capacitors and four interdigitated electrodes where tested at a pressure of 0, 5, 7.5 and 10 MPa. An initial relative dielectric constant of the film of 2.66plusmn0.05 was obtained. This yields a change in constant equal to 1.241middot10^-4plusmn2.1middot10^-5 per MPa pressure at room temperature. The through-plane modulus showed a linear elastic behaviour equal to 4.73plusmn0.46, 4.11plusmn0.39, 3.64plusmn0.31 and 3.56plusmn0.32 GPa for 20deg, 50deg, 70deg and 100deg C respectively. The modulus at room temperature is in good agreement with the values found in literature