Texas Instruments Corporation

Glenn J Tessmer

Jiong-Ping Lu

Brian Keith Kirkpatrick

Andrew McKerrow

Donald S Miles

Ju-Ai Ruan

Clinton L Montgomery

Mercer Brugler

Ralf B Willecke

Sarah Hartwig

Melissa M Hewson

Lu Jiong-Ping

Andrew J Mckerrow

A process for forming nickel silicide and silicon nitride structure in a semiconductor integrated circuit device is described. Good adhesion between the nickel silicide and the silicon nitride is accomplished by passivating the nickel suicide surface with nitrogen. The passivation may be performed by treating the nickel silicide surface with plasma activated nitrogen species. An alternative passivation method is to cover the nickel silicide with a film of metal nitride and heat the substrate to about 500&deg; C. Another alternative method is to sputter deposit silicon nitride on top of nickel silicide.

Nickel silicide&mdash;silicon nitride adhesion through surface passivation

The present invention relates to a method for improving an interface of a semiconductor device. The method comprises providing a first and second substrate having an oxidized region, and establishing a first loading position in a first process chamber. The first and second substrates are consecutively inserted into the first process chamber and generally simultaneously processed, wherein the oxidized region is reduced by exposure to a first plasma. The first and second substrates are then consecutively removed and the first substrate is inserted into a second process chamber and subsequently processed. The second substrate is then inserted into the second process chamber and the first and second substrates are simultaneously processed. The first substrate is the removed, and the second substrate is processed again. According to one exemplary aspect, the first and second substrates are exposed to a first temperature in the first process chamber for approximately half the time the first and second substrates are exposed to a higher second temperature in the second process chamber while maintaining throughput of substrates.

Method for reducing contamination, copper reduction, and depositing a dielectric layer on a semiconductor device

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Richardson, TX, United States of America

Glenn J Tessmer