Applied Materials, Inc.

Bhushan N Zope

Avgerinos V Gelatos

Bo Zheng

Xinyu Fu

Mathew Abraham

Srinivas Gandikota

Yu Lei

Sang Ho Yu

Sang-Ho Yu

Seshadri Ganguli

Shahid Rauf

Jeffrey W Anthis

Yixiong Yang

Leonid Dorf

Kai Wu

Benjamin Schmiege

Adam Brand

Subhash Deshmukh

Guoqiang Jian

Aneesh Nainani

Methods for depositing a metal layer in a feature definition of a semiconductor device are provided. In one implementation, a method for depositing a metal layer for forming a semiconductor device is provided. The method comprises performing a cyclic metal deposition process to deposit a metal layer on a substrate and annealing the metal layer disposed on the substrate. The cyclic metal deposition process comprises exposing the substrate to a deposition precursor gas mixture to deposit a portion of the metal layer on the substrate, exposing the portion of the metal layer to either a plasma treatment process or hydrogen annealing process and repeating the exposing the substrate to a deposition precursor gas mixture and exposing the portion of the metal layer to either a plasma treatment process or hydrogen annealing process until a predetermined thickness of the metal layer is achieved.

Method of enabling seamless cobalt gap-fill

Methods for depositing a contact metal layer in contact structures of a semiconductor device are provided. In one embodiment, a method for depositing a contact metal layer for forming a contact structure in a semiconductor device is provided. The method comprises performing a cyclic metal deposition process to deposit a contact metal layer on a substrate and annealing the contact metal layer disposed on the substrate. The cyclic metal deposition process comprises exposing the substrate to a deposition precursor gas mixture to deposit a portion of the contact metal layer on the substrate, exposing the portion of the contact metal layer to a plasma treatment process, and repeating the exposing the substrate to a deposition precursor gas mixture and exposing the portion of the contact metal layer to a plasma treatment process until a predetermined thickness of the contact metal layer is achieved.

Methods for selectively depositing a metal silicide layer are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of selectively depositing a metal silicide layer includes: (a) providing a substrate having a first layer to a process chamber, wherein the first layer comprises a first surface and a feature formed in the first surface comprising an opening defined by one or more sidewalls and a bottom surface wherein the sidewalls comprise one of silicon oxide or silicon nitride and wherein the bottom surface comprises at least one of silicon or germanium; (b) exposing the substrate to a precursor gas comprising a metal halide; (c) purging the precursor gas from the process chamber using an inert gas; (d) exposing the substrate to a silicon containing gas; (e) purging the silicon containing gas from the process chamber using an inert gas; (f) repeating (b)-(e) to selectively deposit a metal silicide along the bottom surface to a predetermined thickness; and (g) annealing the substrate after depositing the metal silicide layer.

Methods for selective deposition of metal silicides via atomic layer deposition cycles

Embodiments of methods for etching cobalt metal using fluorine radicals are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of etching a cobalt layer in a substrate processing chamber includes: forming a plasma from a process gas comprising a fluorine-containing gas; and exposing the cobalt layer to fluorine radicals from the plasma while maintaining the cobalt layer at a temperature of about 50 to about 500 degrees Celsius to etch the cobalt layer.

Methods for dry etching cobalt metal using fluorine radicals

Methods for depositing cobalt in features of a substrate include providing a substrate to a process chamber, the substrate having a first surface, a feature formed in the first surface comprising an opening defined by one or more sidewalls, a bottom surface, and upper corners, and the substrate having a first layer formed atop the first surface and the opening, wherein a thickness of the first layer is greater proximate the upper corners of the opening than at the sidewalls and bottom of the opening; exposing the substrate to a plasma formed from a silicon-containing gas to deposit a silicon layer predominantly onto a portion of the first layer atop the first surface of the substrate; and depositing a cobalt layer atop the substrate to fill the opening, wherein the silicon layer inhibits deposition of cobalt on the portion of the first layer atop the first surface of the substrate.

Methods for preferential growth of cobalt within substrate features

Implementations described herein generally relate to methods and apparatus for in-situ removal of unwanted deposition buildup from one or more interior surfaces of a semiconductor substrate processing chamber. In one implementation, a method for removing cobalt or cobalt containing deposits from one or more interior surfaces of a substrate processing chamber after processing a substrate disposed in the substrate processing chamber is provided. The method comprises forming a reactive species from the fluorine containing cleaning gas mixture, permitting the reactive species to react with the cobalt and/or the cobalt containing deposits to form cobalt fluoride in a gaseous state and purging the cobalt fluoride in gaseous state out of the substrate processing chamber.

Cobalt removal for chamber clean or pre-clean process

An electron beam plasma source is used in a soft plasma surface treatment of semiconductor surfaces containing Ge or group III-V compound semiconductor materials.

Interface treatment of semiconductor surfaces with high density low energy plasma

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method of forming a cobalt layer on a dielectric material without incubation delay. Prior to depositing the cobalt layer using CVD, the surface of the dielectric material is pretreated at a temperature between 100&#xb0; C. and 250&#xb0; C. Since the subsequent CVD cobalt process is also performed at between 100&#xb0; C. and 250&#xb0; C., one processing chamber is used for pretreating the dielectric material and forming of the cobalt layer. The combination of processing steps enables use of two processing chambers to deposit cobalt.

Growing community of inventors

Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Bhushan N Zope