Black Diamond

Black Diamond™ is Applied Materials' proprietary brand name for their carbon-doped oxide (SiCOH) low-k dielectric film — deposited using PECVD and tunable across a range of dielectric constants ($kappa = 2.5-3.0$) depending on the carbon content and porosity.

What Is Black Diamond?

  • Product Line: Black Diamond (BD) and Black Diamond II (BD-II, porous ULK version).
  • Tool: Deposited on Applied Materials' Producer® PECVD system.
  • $kappa$ Range: BD ($kappa approx 2.7-3.0$), BD-II ($kappa approx 2.2-2.5$).
  • Precursor: Organosilicon compounds (trimethylsilane family).

Why It Matters

  • Market Leader: Black Diamond is the most widely deployed low-k film in high-volume manufacturing.
  • Integration: Optimized for compatibility with Applied Materials' etch and CMP equipment ecosystem.
  • Name Recognition: "Black Diamond" is almost synonymous with "low-k dielectric" in the semiconductor industry.

Black Diamond is the brand name of the industry's go-to low-k dielectric — the insulating film running between the copper wires in most of the world's advanced processors.

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