THE EFFECT OF CROSS-LINKING ON THERMAL AND MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF PERFLUOROCYCLOBUTANE AROMATIC ETHER POLYMERS

As the minimum features in semiconductor devices decrease, it is a new trend to incorporate copper and polymers with dielectric constant les s than 3.0 to enhance the performance of the devices. Two fluorinated polymers, poly(biphenyl perfluorocyclobutyl ether) (BPFCB) and poly(1, 1,1-triphenyl ethane perfluorocyclobutyl ether) (PFCB), are newly deve loped polymers with dielectric constants below 3.0. These two polymers have a similar backbone structure, but PFCB has the capability of cro sslinking. To know the implications of these two polymers in the semic onductor industry, properties that are important for the integral reli ability of Integral Circuits (IC), such as thermal and mechanical prop erties, should be understood. This comparative study shows that the cr osslinking in perfluorocyclobutane aromatic ether polymer can reduce v ertical thermal expansion and increase glass transition temperature (T -g) while water absorption, crystalline-like phase, and dielectric con stant are slightly increased. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.