Applied Materials, Inc.

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.

Benjamin Schmiege

Jeffrey W Anthis

David P Thompson

Nitin K Ingle

Xikun Wang

Jie Liu

Srinivas Gandikota

Srinivas D Nemani

Abhijit Basu Mallick

Susmit Singha Roy

Ziqing Duan

Tsung-Liang Chen

David Benjaminson

Glen Gilchrist

Anchuan Wang

Kelvin Chan

Yu Lei

Bo Zheng

Yihong Chen

David Knapp

Rajkumar Jakkaraju

Mark Joseph Saly

Seshadri Ganguli

Paul F Ma

Avgerinos V Gelatos

Mikhail Korolik

Xinliang Lu

Chien-Teh Kao

Sang Ho Yu

Thomas Knisley

Kai Wu

Lakmal Charidu Kalutarage

Lei Zhou

Liqi Wu

Michael Sterling Jackson

Chang Ke

Xuesong Lu

Martin Jeff Salinas

Bhushan N Zope

Pingyan Lei

Guoqiang Jian

Chikuang Charles Wang

Benjamin C Wang

Yung-Hsin Lee

Ghazal Saheli

Juno Yu-Ting Huang

Pratham Jain

Processing methods comprising selectively orthogonally growing a first material through a mask to provide an expanded first material are described. The mask can be removed leaving the expanded first material extending orthogonally from the surface of the first material. Further processing can create a self-aligned via.

Methods of forming self-aligned vias

Metal coordination complexes comprising a metal atom coordinated to at least one diazabutadiene ligand having a structure represented by:  where each R is independently a C1-C13 alkyl or aryl group and each R' is independently H, C1-C10 alkyl or aryl group are described. Processing methods using the metal coordination complexes are also described.

Ruthenium precursors for ALD and CVD thin film deposition and uses thereof

Methods for depositing a yttrium-containing film through an atomic layer deposition process are described. Some embodiments of the disclosure utilize a plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition process. Also described is an apparatus for performing the atomic layer deposition of the yttrium containing films.

Methods and apparatus for depositing yttrium-containing films

Methods of forming a lanthanide-containing film comprising exposing a substrate surface to a lanthanide-containing precursor, a metal halide and a nitrogen precursor are described. The lanthanide-containing precursor has the general formula (CpR)Ln(N,N-dialkylamidinate) where Cp is a cyclopentadienyl or 6, 7 or 8 membered ring, R is H, C1-C4 alkyl, x=1 to number of C in Cp, alkyl is C1 to C4 alkyl. The metal halide deposits metal halide on the substrate surface and reacts with lanthanide-containing species to convert the lanthanide-containing species to a lanthanide halide. The nitrogen-containing precursor forms a lanthanide-metal-nitride film on the substrate surface.

In-situ formation of non-volatile lanthanide thin film precursors and use in ALD and CVD

Methods of depositing a film selectively onto a first substrate surface relative to a second substrate surface are described. The methods include exposing a substrate to a blocking molecule to selectively deposit a blocking layer on the first surface. A layer is selectively formed on the second surface and defects of the layer are formed on the blocking layer. The defects are removed from the blocking layer on the first surface.

Selective deposition defects removal by chemical etch

A system and method for removing metal from a substrate in a controlled manner is disclosed. The system includes a chamber, with one or more gas inlets to allow the flow of gasses into the chamber, at least one exhaust pump, to exhaust gasses from the chamber, and a heater, capable of modifying the temperature of the chamber. In some embodiments, one or more gasses are introduced into the chamber at a first temperature. The atoms in these gasses chemically react with the metal on the surface of the substrate to form a removable compound. The gasses are then exhausted from the chamber, leaving the removable compound on the surface of the substrate. The temperature of the chamber is then elevated to a second temperature, greater than the sublimation temperature of the removable compound. This increased temperature allows the removable compound to become gaseous and be exhausted from the chamber.

System and method for controllable non-volatile metal removal

Metal coordination complexes comprising a metal atom coordinated to at least one diazabutadiene ligand having a structure represented by: where each R is independently a C1-C13 alkyl or aryl group and each R' is independently H, C1-C10 alkyl or aryl group are described. Processing methods using the metal coordination complexes are also described.

Methods are described herein for etching metal films which are difficult to volatize. The methods include exposing a metal film to a chlorine-containing precursor (e.g. Cl). Chlorine is then removed from the substrate processing region. A carbon-and-nitrogen-containing precursor (e.g. TMEDA) is delivered to the substrate processing region to form volatile metal complexes which desorb from the surface of the metal film. The methods presented remove metal while very slowly removing the other exposed materials. A thin metal oxide layer may be present on the surface of the metal layer, in which case a local plasma from hydrogen may be used to remove the oxygen or amorphize the near surface region, which has been found to increase the overall etch rate.

Oxide and metal removal

Metal coordination complexes comprising a metal atom coordinated to at least one aza-allyl ligand having the structure represented by: where each R1-R4 are independently selected from the group consisting of H, branched or unbranched C1-C6 alkyl, branched or unbranched C1-C6 alkenyl, branched or unbranched C1-C6 alkynyl, cycloalkyl groups having in the range of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, silyl groups and halogens. Methods of depositing a film using the metal coordination complex and a suitable reactant are also described.

Precursors for deposition of metal, metal nitride and metal oxide based films of transition metals

Provided are methods for etching films comprising transition metals. Certain methods involve activating a substrate surface comprising at least one transition metal, wherein activation of the substrate surface comprises exposing the substrate surface to heat, a plasma, an oxidizing environment, or a halide transfer agent to provide an activated substrate surface; and exposing the activated substrate surface to a reagent comprising a Lewis base or pi acid to provide a vapor phase coordination complex comprising one or more atoms of the transition metal coordinated to one or more ligands from the reagent. Certain other methods provide selective etching from a multi-layer substrate comprising two or more of a layer of Co, a layer of Cu and a layer of Ni.

Methods of etching films comprising transition metals

A process to selectively etch a substrate surface comprising multiple metal oxides comprising exposing the substrate surface to a halogenation agent, and then exposing the substrate surface to a ligand transfer agent. The etch rate of the metals in the multiple metal oxides is substantially uniform.

Selective dry etching of metal films comprising multiple metal oxides

Provided are methods for etching films comprising transition metals which help to minimize higher etch rates at the grain boundaries of polycrystalline materials. Certain methods pertain to amorphization of the polycrystalline material, other pertain to plasma treatments, and yet other pertain to the use of small doses of halide transfer agents in the etch process.

Methods of etching films with reduced surface roughness

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Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Benjamin Schmiege