Method for forming an insulator having a low dielectric constant on a semiconductor substrate
AssigneeInfineon Technologies AG
InventorMarkus Kirchhoff
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Abstract
A method for fabricating an insulator on a semiconductor substrate such that the insulator has a low dielectric constant. A first interconnect and a second interconnect are configured on a semiconductor substrate. A conductive silicon is formed between the first interconnect and the second interconnect. The conductive silicon is anodically etched in a hydrofluoric-acid-containing electrolyte to convert the conductive silicon into porous silicon. The porous silicon is subsequently oxidized to form porous silicon oxide. With a dielectric constant of between 1.1 and 4, the porous silicon oxide has a lower dielectric constant than customary silicon oxide with 4.
Claims4
A method for fabricating an insulator on a semiconductor substrate, which comprises:
- providing a semiconductor substrate having a first interconnect and a second interconnect;
- forming amorphous silicon between the first interconnect and the second interconnect;
- anodically etching the amorphous silicon in a hydrofluoric-acid-containing electrolyte to convert the amorphous silicon into a porous silicon;
- and
- anodically oxidizing the porous silicon using an electrolyte that does not contain hydrofluoric acid to convert the porous silicon into a porous silicon oxide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.