Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Atomic structure impacts on the dielectric and mechanical properties of hydrogen-silsesquioxane (HSQ) were investigated to determine the sensitivity of HSQ to Si-H bond degradation during thermal processing. It was demonstrated that the dielectric properties of HSQ films are not sensitive to Si-H bond degradation up to 50 % if polar silanol or water species are not induced during thermal processing at a temperature of ≤ 450 °C. However, as the Si-H bond density is reduced, the mechanical properties are changed due to the increasingly formed Si-O-Si networks. This provides an opportunity for tuning mechanical properties per application requirements by process optimization.