Preparation and characterization of nanoporous polyimide membrane by the template method as low-k dielectric material

In order to decrease the resistance–capacitance delay and signal crosstalk in ultra large-scale integrated circuits (ULSIC), dielectric materials with ultra low dielectric constants are developed to be the replacement of silicon dioxide. Introduction of air on the matrix material is an important method to reduce the dielectric constant, and polyimide (PI) is the most promising polymer to prepare porous matrix material for its distinct advantages. PI membrane with nanopores was prepared by the method of template method (i.e. thermolysis of polystyrene nanospheres in the matrix) following the synthesis of template. The nanoporous membrane was characterized by Fourier transformer infrared, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and the dielectric constant of which was measured. Results showed that uniform nanopores about 100–200 nm were formed in the PI membrane, and dielectric constant of which was decreased to 2.08 from 3.34. The nanoporous membrane can be applied as potential low- k dielectric material in ULSIC. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.