**5. Conclusions**

Low-*k* dielectric materials are essential for *RC* delay reduction to improve the performance of ICs. However, plasma-induced damage on the low-*k* dielectric materials during Cu/low-*k* interconnects fabrication is a critical issue to influence the low-*k* integrity. Plasma damage on the low-*k* dielectrics is a complicated phenomenon involving physical and chemical reactions. The resulting main negative impact is an increased dielectric constant due to water adsorption after plasma irradiation on the low-*k* dielectrics. The plasma damage depends on the used low-*k* dielectrics, plasma gases and conditions, and reactors. Therefore, the optimization in the plasma process is required to minimize the plasma damage. Additionally, the damaged low-*k* dielectrics can be recovered by the removal of adsorbed water. This turns the hydrophilic materials to be hydrophobic. Currently, complete recovery cannot be obtained; consequently, this area requires a lot of effort to make in the future.
