Finite element model of surface acoustic wave method for mechanical characterization of patterned thin films of the...

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) technique is a promising method to determine the mechanical properties of thin low dielectric constant (low-k) dielectrics by matching the experimental dispersion curve with the theoretical dispersion curves. However, it is difficult to calculate the dispersion curves when SAWs propagate along patterned structure. In this paper, finite element method (FEM) is applied to obtain the numerical dispersion results of SAWs propagating on patterned film. Periodic boundary condition and plane-strain model is used to improve the computation speed. Four structures of bulk silicon, single layered low-k film, two layered Cu and SiO2 film, and patterned film, are simulated in this paper. The dispersion curves of single low-k films derived from the FEM simulation agree very well with those calculated by traditional method, which verifies the correct employment of the FEM approach. Dispersion curves of two patterned film structure of Cu and SiO2 with difference metal wire width are obtained. Effective Young's moduli are achieved by fitting the FEM simulated results with those of traditional theoretical calculation through least square error method.