Patent attributes
The invention relates to a process for sealing plasma-damaged, porous low-k materials on Si substrates, in which self-aligning molecules (SAMs) are applied to the low-k material, and then a diffusion barrier is applied to the low-k material. The invention is based on the object of providing a process for sealing plasma-damaged, porous low-k materials on Si substrates, which allows an improved distribution of the SAMs to be achieved, in particular in the case of structures with a high aspect ratio, and which allows the low-k materials to be repaired, dewatered and sealed. According to the invention, this is achieved by virtue of the fact that the deposition of the SAMs is carried out using a supercritical CO2 process (scCO2 process), by the wafers being introduced into a process chamber, that CO2 and SAMs are introduced into the process chamber and the process chamber is pressurized, that the wafers are heated to a temperature of over 35° C. up to 300° C., and that the ambient conditions in the process chamber are maintained for a predetermined period of time.
