Microelectronic application, polyimide coatings

Because of the high functional values that polyimides can provide, a small-scale custom synthesis by users or toll producers is often economically viable despite high cost, especially for aerospace and microelectronic applications. For the majority of industrial applications, the yellow color generally associated with polyimides is quite acceptable. However, transparency or low absorbance is an essential requirement in some applications such as multilayer thermal insulation blankets for satellites and protective coatings for solar cells and other space components (93). For interlayer dielectric applications in semiconductor devices, polyimides having low and controlled thermal expansion coefficients are required to match those of substrate materials such as metals, ceramics, and semiconductors used in those devices (94). 

Ea, above and below Tg. Three case studies illustrate the range of applicability of the bending beam setup and factors contributing to the stress state. The first is a comparison of two polymers for interlayer dielectrics PMDA-ODA (pyromellitic acid dianhydride - oxydiamine) and a bis-benzocyclobutene. The second is of a neat epoxy resin commonly used for microelectronics encapsulation (epoxidized ortho-cresol novolac cured with a phenolic novolac). The third is a screen-printable polyimide coating used for protection of the integrated-circuit chip. An outline of our stress model is sketched, and example results are presented. 

Initially, the experiments apply a commercially available polyimide coating, which is well known from many microelectronic applications. The polyimide (PI 2545, HD Microsystems GmbH) is a high-temperature coating that can be patterned by a positive photoresist. It is dissolved in the same process step as the exposed resist using an alkaline photoresist developer [6], but by different etching rates. 

Adhesion of polyimides to inorganic substrates is of great importance to the microelectronics industry [1, 2]. The polyimide films are deposited most often by spin coating the polyamic acid (PAA) usually from a TV-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) solution onto the substrate surface followed by thermal imidization at temperatures up to 400<>C. The most studied polyimide is the pyromellitic dianhydride-oxydianiline (PMDA-ODA), which exhibits excellent mechanical and dielectric properties, but not so good adhesion characteristics. The latter has been generally overcome by application of an adhesion promoter, such as y-aminopropyltriethoxysilane [3-7]. The reactions of APS (coated from water solution) with the silicon dioxide surface as well as with polyamic acid have been well characterized by Linde and Gleason [4] however, we do not have such detailed information available on APS interaction with other ceramic surfaces. 

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