A Statistical Evaluation of the Field Acceleration Parameter Observed During Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown Testing of Silica-Based Low-k Interconnect Dielectrics

Extensive time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) data were taken for several silica-based low-k interconnect dielectrics so that the full statistical-distribution for the field acceleration parameter (gamma) could be determined. The low-k materials tested during this study included: SiOF (k=3.6), SiOCl (k=2.9), SiOC2 (k=2.6) and MSQ (k=2.3). While a strong material-dependence was found for the breakdown strength and time-to-failure, all of these silica-based materials tested at 105degC were observed to have a similar field acceleration parameter of gamma = 4.13 +/- 0.85 cm/MV