Low dielectric constant materials for interlayer dielectric

The more advanced an integrated circuit becomes, the more stringent are the demands for certain properties of a dielectric or insulating material. In addition, it is essential that the layer maintain its specific electrical, physical and chemical properties after incorporation in the device structure and during subsequent processing. Due to temperature budget constraints and the accelerated decrease of feature sizes below 0.25 mu m one can no longer rely on traditional choices but has to search for alternatives, both for low and high permittivity replacements. In the article we survey currently used low dielectric constant materials and future trends for micro-electronic applications.