Low Dielectric Poly(imide siloxane) Films Enabled by a Well-Defined Disiloxane-Linked Alkyl Diamine

[Image: see text] This paper presents an efficient pathway to achieve the dielectric constant as low as 2.48 @ 25 °C, 1 MHz for nonporous poly(imide siloxane) films with mechanical and thermal robustness. A symmetric disiloxane-linked alkyl diamine, bis(aminopropyl)tetramethyldisiloxane (BATMS) with a well-defined molecular formula NH(2)CH(2)CH(2)CH(2)Si(CH(3))(2)OSi(CH(3))(2)CH(2)CH(2)CH(2)NH(2), has been used to controllably reduce the dielectric constant of the polymer films by adjusting the loading of BATMS. The thermal stability of all the polymer films remains robust with T(5) and T(10) no less than 458 and 472 °C, respectively, while the glass-transition temperature decreases with increasing incorporation of flexible disiloxane-alkyl segments into a polymer backbone. There exists a consistent regularity between the thermal, optical, and dielectric properties with the loading amount of BATMS in the polymer films, inferring that the disiloxane-alkyl segments are homogeneously distributed in the polymer backbone. Charge-transfer complex inhibition of polymer films by disiloxane segments has been revealed by an enlarged d-spacing in wide-angle X-ray diffraction spectra and a blue shift in film fluorescence emission spectra. The combined low dielectric constant, robust mechanical and thermal stability, and improved hydrophobicity make the series of BATMS-resulting poly(imide siloxane) films promising candidates for sophisticated flexible microelectronic application.