A phenomenon was discovered wherein light scattering strength from cracks increases when tensile stress is applied to micro-cracks produced in the interlayer dielectric film by chemical mechanical polishing treatment. It is likely that the change in light scattering intensity occurs because a region of high stress concentration (region with high variation in index of refraction) is produced near the crack tip due to stress, thus forming a type of scatterer. With this method, it is possible to detect only scatterers which respond to stress, and thus, it is possible to classify and separately detect cracks and particles.

Topics
Electronic noise, Chemical mechanical planarization, Dielectric materials, Atomic force microscopy, Optical properties, Polymers, Tensile stress, Lenses, Light scattering, Beam expander
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© 2011 American Institute of Physics.
2011
American Institute of Physics
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