Design of a Nanoporous Ultra Low-Dielectric Constant Organosilicate

A new class of structure organosilicates has been developed with an ultra low-dielectric constant, k, of less than 2.0, and high dielectric breakdown strength (> 2 MV/cm). In this approach, a series of triblock polymers, poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide-b-ethylene oxide) (PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO), are used as sacrificial materials in poly(methyl silsesquioxane) (MSQ) to generate pores after heating to temperatures greater than or equal to 400 degC. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) shows that these materials have extremely small pores, on the order of 1 nm. Additionally, these low k materials exhibit high mechanical strength with a Young's modulus approximately equal to 3 GPa.