Extraction of intrinsic mechanical properties of thin materials with low dielectric constant with iTF analysis

This white paper focuses on the optimization and use of Bruker’s iTF software package for the extraction of intrinsic (substrate-independent) mechanical properties, especially for thin, low-k materials. These considerations are divided into two main parts: the measurement procedure (Section II) and the execution of the iTF (Section III). The first describes the important aspects of acquiring appropriate experimental data, which is then fed into the iTF software. It should be noted that the reader is assumed to have a preliminary understanding of the Li-Vlassak solution and the basic principles of nanoindentation.

Readers can expect to get a new insight into

• The process of obtaining the substrate-independent properties of low-k materials and the actions needed to achieve the best results;
• Guidelines for tip area function, indenter geometry selection, load function and data analysis;
• How to optimize critical user input values ​​required for thin film iTF fitting; and
• Examples of using the processes listed above in semiconductor research applications.

Authors: Oguzhan Orkut Okudur (imec), Kris Vanstreels (imec), Ude Hangen (Bruker)

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