Lam Research Corporation

Novellus Systems Incorporated

Harvard College

Lam Research Corporaton

Lam Rasearch Corporation

Dennis Michael Hausmann

Jon Henri

David Charles Smith

Bart Jan Van Schravendijk

Adrianne K Tipton

Shankar Swaminathan

George D Papasouliotis

Bunsen B Nie

Ron Rulkens

Raihan M Tarafdar

Adrien Lavoie

Jeff Tobin

Jeffrey S Marks

Hu Kang

Roy Gerald Gordon

Mandyam Sriram

Bhadri N Varadarajan

Nagraj Shankar

Kapu Sirish Reddy

Jill Svenja Becker

Taeseung Kim

Samantha SiamHwa Tan

Jun Qian

Easwar Srinivasan

Andrew John McKerrow

Meliha Gozde Rainville

Alexander R Fox

Paul C Lemaire

Thorsten B Lill

Harmeet Singh

Artur Kolics

Richard Alan Gottscho

George Andrew Antonelli

Pramod Subramonium

Keren Jacobs Kanarik

Wenbing Yang

Sirish K Reddy

Seigi Suh

Vishwanathan Rangarajan

Shane Tang

Thomas Joseph Knisley

Alexander Kabansky

Wanki Kim

Kirthi Kattige

Karl Frederick Leeser

James Samuel Sims

Adrien LaVoie

Bart K Van Schravendijk

Eric A Hudson

Ming Chu Li

Ramesh Chandrasekharan

Patrick A Van Cleemput

David W Porter

Thomas W Mountsier

Mohamed Sabri

Krishnan Shrinivasan

Eugene Smargiassi

Huong Thanh Nguyen

Francisco J Juarez

Kevin M McLaughlin

Michael Rivkin

Antonio Xavier

Jason Dirk Haverkamp

Thomas G Jewell

Joseph Scott Briggs

Tom Dorsh

Kashish Sharma

Karthik Sivaramakrishnan

Bryan Schlief

Colleen Lawlor

Teresa Pong

Michael S Barnes

Sasson Roger Somekh

Wai-Fan Yau

Seshasayee Varadarajan

Mihai A Buretea

Seon-Mee Cho

Samantha S H Tan

Keith Fox

Brian Lu

Sesha Varadarajan

Kathryn Merced Kelchner

Timothy Mark Archer

Pengyi Zhang

Elham Mohimi

Andrew Antonelli

Ron Rulkins

Jill Becker

Provided herein are methods and apparatus for filling one or more gaps on a semiconductor substrate. The disclosed embodiments are especially useful for forming seam-free, void-free fill in both narrow and wide features. The methods may be performed without any intervening etching operations to achieve a single step deposition. In various implementations, a first operation is performed using a novel PEALD fill mechanism to fill narrow gaps and line wide gaps. A second operation may be performed using PECVD methods to continue filling the wide gaps.

Gapfill of variable aspect ratio features with a composite PEALD and PECVD method

Selective deposition of a sacrificial material on a semiconductor substrate, the substrate having a surface with a plurality of regions of substrate materials having different selectivities for the sacrificial material, may be conducted such that substantial deposition of the sacrificial material occurs on a first region of the substrate surface, and no substantial deposition occurs on a second region of the substrate surface. Deposition of a non-sacrificial material may then be conducted on the substrate, such that substantial deposition of the non-sacrificial material occurs on the second region and no substantial deposition of the non-sacrificial material occurs on the first region. The sacrificial material may then be removed such that net deposition of the non-sacrificial material occurs substantially only on the second region.

Selective processing with etch residue-based inhibitors

Methods and apparatuses for selective deposition of metal oxides on metal surfaces relative to dielectric surfaces are provided. Selective deposition is achieved by exposing metal and dielectric surfaces to a blocking reagent capable of forming a hydrolyzable bond with metal while forming a non hydrolyzable bond with the dielectric, and dipping the surfaces in water to cleave the hydrolyzable bond and leave a blocked surface on the dielectric surface, followed by depositing metal oxide selectively on the metal surface relative to the dielectric surface. Blocking reagents are deposited by wet or dry techniques and may include an alkylaminosilane or alkylchlorosilane as examples.

Selective deposition using hydrolysis

Vacuum-integrated photoresist-less methods and apparatuses for forming metal hardmasks can provide sub-30 nm patterning resolution. A metal-containing (e.g., metal salt or organometallic compound) film that is sensitive to a patterning agent is deposited on a semiconductor substrate. The metal-containing film is then patterned directly (i.e., without the use of a photoresist) by exposure to the patterning agent in a vacuum ambient to form the metal mask. For example, the metal-containing film is photosensitive and the patterning is conducted using sub-30 nm wavelength optical lithography, such as EUV lithography.

Vacuum-integrated hardmask processes and apparatus

Methods and apparatuses for selectively growing metal-containing hard masks are provided herein. Methods include providing a substrate having a pattern of spaced apart features, each feature having a top horizontal surface, filling spaces between the spaced apart features with carbon-containing material to form a planar surface having the top horizontal surfaces of the features and carbon-containing material, selectively depositing a metal-containing hard mask on the top horizontal surfaces of the features relative to the carbon-containing material, and selectively removing the carbon-containing material relative to the metal-containing hard mask and features.

Selective growth of metal-containing hardmask thin films

Methods are provided for conducting a deposition on a semiconductor substrate by selectively depositing a material on the substrate. The substrate has a plurality of substrate materials, each with a different nucleation delay corresponding to the material deposited thereon. Specifically, the nucleation delay associated with a first substrate material on which deposition is intended is less than the nucleation delay associated with a second substrate material on which deposition is not intended according to a nucleation delay differential, which degrades as deposition proceeds. A portion of the deposited material is etched to reestablish the nucleation delay differential between the first and the second substrate materials. The material is further selectively deposited on the substrate.

Selective deposition with atomic layer etch reset

Methods and apparatuses for selectively depositing oxide on an oxide surface relative to a nitride surface are described herein. Methods involve pre-treating a substrate surface using ammonia and/or nitrogen plasma and selectively depositing oxide on an oxide surface using alternating pulses of an aminosilane silicon precursor and an oxidizing agent in a thermal atomic layer deposition reaction without depositing oxide on an exposed nitride surface.

Selective deposition of silicon oxide

Methods and systems for conformality modulation of metal oxide films in atomic layer deposition (ALD) are provided. Some example methods use chemical inhibition. An example system for performing such a method comprises a chamber; a source of precursor gas; a source of inhibiting precursor gas; one or more injectors having respective gas flow paths, each having an inlet connectable to the source of the precursor or the inhibiting precursor gas, and being adapted to deliver into the chamber, separately or in conjunction with another injector, precursor gas at a first gaseous flow rate in a first region of the plurality of regions to form a first film at a first deposition rate, and being adapted to deliver inhibiting precursor gas at a second gaseous flow rate in the same or a second region of the plurality of regions to inhibit growth of the first film.

Conformality modulation of metal oxide films using chemical inhibition

Methods and apparatuses for selectively depositing silicon oxide on surfaces relative to a metal-containing surface such as copper are provided. Methods involve exposing a substrate having hydroxyl-terminated or dielectric surfaces and copper surfaces to a copper-blocking reagent such as an alkyl thiol to selectively adsorb to the copper surface, exposing the substrate to a silicon-containing precursor for depositing silicon oxide, exposing the substrate to a weak oxidant gas and igniting a plasma, or water vapor without plasma, to convert the adsorb silicon-containing precursor to form silicon oxide. Some methods also involve exposing the substrate to a reducing agent to reduce any oxidized copper from exposure to the weak oxidant gas.

Selective growth of SIO2 on dielectric surfaces in the presence of copper

Aluminum oxide films with a thickness of between about 10-50 &#x212b;, characterized by a dielectric constant (k) of less than about 7 (such as about 4-6) and having a density of at least about 2.5 g/cm(such as about 3.0-3.2 g/cm) are deposited on partially fabricated semiconductor devices over a metal (e.g., cobalt or copper) such that the metal does not show signs of oxidation. In some embodiments, the films are etch stop films.

Deposition of aluminum oxide etch stop layers

Methods of selectively inhibiting deposition of silicon-containing films deposited by atomic layer deposition are provided. Selective inhibition involves exposure of an adsorbed layer of a silicon-containing precursor to a hydrogen-containing inhibitor, and in some instances, prior to exposure of the adsorbed layer to a second reactant. Exposure to a hydrogen-containing inhibitor may be performed with a plasma, and methods are suitable for selective inhibition in thermal or plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition of silicon-containing films.

Selective inhibition in atomic layer deposition of silicon-containing films

Methods and apparatuses for selectively depositing silicon nitride on exposed surfaces of a substrate having hydroxyl end groups relative to exposed surfaces having S&#x2014;H bonds are provided herein. Techniques involve providing a transition metal-containing reactant or a non-hydride aluminum-containing gas to the substrate to form a transition metal-containing or an aluminum-containing moiety on an exposed surface having hydroxyl end groups and selectively depositing silicon nitride on the surface using alternating pulses of an aminosilane and a hydrazine by thermal atomic layer deposition catalyzed by the transition metal-containing or aluminum-containing moiety on the exposed surface having hydroxyl end groups relative to an exposed surface having S&#x2014;H bonds. Additional techniques involve providing a transition metal-containing gas to an exposed silicon oxide surface to form a transition metal-containing moiety that acts as a catalyst during thermal atomic layer deposition of silicon nitride using alternating pulses of an aminosilane and a hydrazine.

Selective deposition of silicon nitride on silicon oxide using catalytic control

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Lake Oswego, OR, United States of America

Dennis Michael Hausmann