Morphological Control of Nanoporous Films by the Use of Functionalized Cyclodextrins as Porogens

Abstract Porous cyclic silsesquioxane (CSSQ) thin films containing nanopores (∼ 2 nm) with low dielectric constant (k < 2.2), have been prepared by using various kinds of cyclodextrin (CD) derivatives as porogenic materials. The pore structure, including average pore size and interconnectivity, can be controlled by changing the functional groups of the cyclodextrin derivatives. The pore structure is found to be strongly related to the affinity of the functional groups between CD molecules. The electrical and mechanical properties of the porous thin films were monitored in order to determine the relationship between the pore structure and film properties. The mechanical properties of porous low‐k thin films (total porosity ∼ 30 %) prepared with CD derivatives are found to be correlated with the pore interconnection length. The longer the deduced interconnection length in the thin film, the worse the mechanical properties (such as hardness and modulus) of the thin film, even though the porogen‐induced pore diameters are very small (∼ 2 nm).