Abstract: | The application of photosensitive polyimides in electrical and optical interconnection technology is discussed. Critical properties of two photosensitive polyimide formulations with significantly different structural chemistries have been compared. Polyamic ester based formulations such as Selectilux® HTR3 show significant distortions in the photopatterned features upon high-temperature baking, which can be ascribed to anisotropic shrinkage. A BTDA-alkylated diamine based preimidized formulation (Probimide®), on the other hand, shows a more uniform shrinkage of the photopatterned features. HTR3 films interacts strongly with metals such as copper, which adversely affect the photopatternability of these materials. Planarization behavior in multiple layer structures has also been investigated. We explored the viability of these materials for applications in optical interconnection. Probimide® materials exhibit low scattering losses and appear to be promising candidates for the development of a MCM-compatible optical interconnection technology. We also describe here a novel technique for optical recording of refractive index patterns in Probimide® films. |