Organosilicate glass dielectric films with backbone carbon: Enhanced resistance to carbon loss in plasma environments

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data indicate that organosilicate glass (OSG) films with backbone carbon (Si-R-Si) exhibit significantly enhanced resistance to carbon loss upon exposure to either atomic oxygen (O(³P)) or to vacuum ultraviolet light in the presence of O₂ (VUV+O₂) - important factors in O₂ plasma environments-compared to films with terminal methyl groups (Si-CH₃). These results and comparisons to ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations indicate films with backbone carbon exhibit fundamentally different Si-C bond-breaking mechanisms, with more resistance to carbon loss, compared to those with terminal methyl groups.