Thermally Induced Viscous Flow of Borophosphosilicate-Glass Thin Films on Stepped Surfaces,Part 2: Generalized Parameters for ULSI Glass Flow Characterization

New flow parameters termed flow effectiveness andthermal budgetare used for the characterization of the thermal flow of borophosphosilicate glass serving as a premetal dielectric in ULSI circuits. Their practical value is discussed. It is concluded that the approach proposed reduces the cost of measurement, facilitates the interpretation of measured data, works for both furnace and rapid thermal annealing, is applicable to ULSI gap filling as well as glass planarization, and enables one to optimize the annealing temperature for thin films of low-fusible multicomponent glasses.