Patent ID: 6921727

Claim:
A method of treating a dielectric layer having a low dielectric constant, wherein the method comprises: providing a substrate comprising a dielectric layer having a first dielectiic constant, where the first dielectric constant is less than 4.0; processing the substrate in a manner that causes the dielectric constant in an affected region to change to a second dielectric constant, where the second dielectric constant is different from the first dielectric constant; and treating the affected region of the dielectric layer to modify a dielectric characteristic of the dielectric layer, wherein a treatment comprises at least one process selected from the group consisting of etching the affected region using a liquid etching composition including hydrogen fluoride or an etchant gas including at least one of CF 4 , C 4 F 8 , C 5 F 8 , and C 4 F 6 , sputtering the affected region, and annealing the affected region.