Tokyo Electron Limited

International Business Machines Corporation

Devi Koty

Qingyun Yang

Takashi Ando

Hiroyuki Miyazoe

Vijay Narayanan

Eduard Albert Cartier

Nathan P Marchack

Sebastian Ulrich Engelmann

Hongwen Yan

Nicholas Joy

Marinus Johannes Petrus Hopstaken

Sebastian Ulrich Englemann

A method of plasma processing that includes maintaining a plasma processing chamber between 10° C. to 200° C., flowing oxygen and nitrogen into the plasma processing chamber, where a ratio of a flow rate of the nitrogen to a flow rate of oxygen is between about 1:5 and about 1:1, and etching a ruthenium/osmium layer by sustaining a plasma in the plasma processing chamber.

Methods for etching metal films using plasma processing

Embodiments of process flows and methods are provided for forming a resistive switching random access memory (ReRAM). More specifically, process flows and methods are provided for reducing the forming voltage needed to form a conductive path in the ReRAM cells. A wide variety of plasma doping processes are used to introduce a plurality of different dopants into a metal-oxide dielectric film. By utilizing at least two different dopants, the plasma doping processes described herein reduce the forming voltage of the subsequently formed ReRAM cell compared to conventional processes that use only one dopant. In some embodiments, the forming voltage may be further reduced by applying a bias power during the plasma doping process, wherein the bias power is preselected to increase the number of ions introduced into the metal-oxide dielectric film during the plasma doping process.

Plasma co-doping to reduce the forming voltage in resistive random access memory (ReRAM) devices

A resistive random access memory (RERAM) apparatus and method for forming the apparatus are provided. Oxygen content control in the RERAM is provided. To provide oxygen content control, a via to an electrode of the RERAM is formed utilizing an oxygen-free plasma etch step. In one embodiment, the dielectric within which the via is formed is silicon nitride (SiN). In exemplary embodiments, the plasma chemistry is a hydrofluorocarbon (CHF)-based plasma chemistry or a fluorocarbon (CF)-based plasma chemistry. In one embodiment, the resistive layer of the RERAM is a metal oxide. In another embodiment, the oxygen concentrations in the electrode of the RERAM under the via and outside the via are the same after formation of the via.

Oxygen-free plasma etching for contact etching of resistive random access memory

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Hopewell Junction, NY, United States of America

Devi Koty