AbstractAs device size continues to decrease, new challenges arise regarding shrinking dimensions, creating the need for thin, high-k dielectric materials, low-k dielectrics and other exotic materials. These new materials in turn create characterization issues, which cannot be resolved with traditional metrology tools. Critical structural parameters such as thickness, density, and interface roughness of a layer can be measured and monitored with X-ray reflectivity. A quick and reliable method of study regarding these materials is to base work on simulations using a very robust fitting program. This work incorporates a largely theoretical study of exotic materials of interest, including silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy), low-k (porous films) and high-k dielectrics (Ta2O5, HfO2), with a few selected experimental results.
