Filling of Nanometric Pores with Polymer by Initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition

International audienceThe integration of porous thin films using microelectronic compatible processes sometimes requires the protection of the interior of the pores during the critical integration steps. In this paper, the polymerization of neo-pentyl methacrylate (npMA) is performed via initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) on a porous organosilicate (SiOCH) and on a dense SiOCH. The characterizations by FTIR, spectroscopic ellipsometry and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) of the different stacks show that iCVD is a powerful technique to polymerize npMA in the nanometric pores and thus totally fill them with a polymer. The study of the pore filling for very short iCVD durations shows that the polymerization in the pores is done in less than ten seconds and is uniform in depth. Then, the P(npMA) film growth continues on top of the filled SiOCH layer. These characteristics make iCVD a straightforward and very promising alternative to other infiltration techniques in order to fill the porosity of microporous thin films. The past decade has witnessed significant advances in the ability to fabricate new porous solids from a wide range of various materials. [1-3] This has resulted in materials with unusual properties and broadened their application range beyond their traditional use such as catalyst