Novellus Systems Incorporated

Lam Research Corporation

James Samuel Sims

Jon Henri

Seshasayee Varadarajan

Kathryn Merced Kelchner

Bhadri N Varadarajan

Sirish K Reddy

Andrew John McKerrow

Shane Tang

Ramesh Chandrasekharan

Dennis Michael Hausmann

Mandyam Sriram

Akhil N Singhal

Qingguo Wu

Vikrant Rai

Karl Frederick Leeser

Thorsten B Lill

Ming Chu Li

Meihua Shen

Pramod Subramonium

Haiying Fu

Mohamed Sabri

Damien Martin Slevin

Curtis Warren Bailey

Aaron R Fellis

Alexander Dulkin

John Hoang

Gengwei Jiang

Danna Qian

Brad Laird

Saangrut Sangplug

Bart Jan Van Schravendijk

Kevin J Ilcisin

Sean C Chang

Huatan Qiu

David Mordo

Sesha Varadarajan

William Crew

Michael Carris

Guangquan Lu

Andrew Antonelli

Andrew Mckerrow

Mandar Pandit

Sathish Babu S V Janjam

A method for depositing a silicon nitride layer on a stack is provided. The method comprises providing an atomic layer deposition, comprising a plurality of cycles, wherein each cycle comprises dosing the stack with a silicon containing precursor by providing a silicon containing precursor gas, providing an Nplasma conversion, and providing an Hplasma conversion.

Method of depositing silicon nitride films

Methods and apparatuses for forming an encapsulation bilayer over a chalcogenide material on a semiconductor substrate are provided. Methods involve forming a bilayer including a barrier layer directly on chalcogenide material deposited using pulsed plasma plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PP-PECVD) and an encapsulation layer over the barrier layer deposited using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). In various embodiments, the barrier layer is formed using a halogen-free silicon precursor and the encapsulation layer deposited by PEALD is formed using a halogen-containing silicon precursor and a hydrogen-free nitrogen-containing reactant.

Conformal damage-free encapsulation of chalcogenide materials

Disclosed are methods of and apparatuses and systems for depositing a film in a multi-station deposition apparatus. The methods may include: (a) providing a substrate to a first station of the apparatus, (b) adjusting the temperature of the substrate to a first temperature, (c) depositing a first portion of the material on the substrate while the substrate is at the first temperature in the first station, (d) transferring the substrate to the second station, (e) adjusting the temperature of the substrate to a second temperature, and (f) depositing a second portion of the material on the substrate while the substrate is at the second temperature, such that the first portion and the second portion exhibit different values of a property of the material. The apparatuses and systems may include a multi-station deposition apparatus and a controller having control logic for performing one or more of (a)-(f).

Suppressing interfacial reactions by varying the wafer temperature throughout deposition

A method of depositing ALD films on semiconductor substrates processed in a micro-volume of a plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) reaction chamber wherein a single semiconductor substrate is supported on a ceramic surface of a pedestal and process gas is introduced through gas outlets in a ceramic surface of a showerhead into a reaction zone above the semiconductor substrate, includes (a) cleaning the ceramic surfaces of the pedestal and showerhead with a fluorine plasma such that aluminum-rich byproducts are formed on the ceramic surfaces, (b) depositing a conformal halide-free atomic layer deposition (ALD) oxide undercoating on the ceramic surfaces so as to cover the aluminum-rich byproducts, (c) depositing a pre-coating on the halide-free ALD oxide undercoating, and (d) processing a batch of semiconductor substrates by transferring each semiconductor substrate into the reaction chamber and depositing a film on the semiconductor substrate supported on the ceramic surface of the pedestal.

Method for depositing ALD films using halide-based precursors

Provided are methods and apparatuses for depositing a nitride film using one or more plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition cycles and one or more thermal atomic layer deposition cycles in a single reactor. The number of thermal atomic layer deposition cycles can be equal to or greater than the number of plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition cycles. Incorporation of thermal atomic layer deposition cycles with plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition cycles can allow for greater fine-tuning of properties of the nitride film. In some implementations, the nitride film is a silicon nitride film. The silicon nitride film can be fine-tuned to allow for a more silicon-rich film with a greater refractive index. In some implementations, the plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition cycles and the thermal atomic layer deposition cycles can be maintained at the same wafer temperature.

Nitride film formed by plasma-enhanced and thermal atomic layer deposition process

A method of depositing silicon nitride films on semiconductor substrates processed in a micro-volume of a plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) reaction chamber wherein a single semiconductor substrate is supported on a ceramic surface of a pedestal and process gas is introduced through gas outlets in a ceramic surface of a showerhead into a reaction zone above the semiconductor substrate, includes (a) cleaning the ceramic surfaces of the pedestal and showerhead with a fluorine plasma, (b) depositing a halide-free atomic layer deposition (ALD) oxide undercoating on the ceramic surfaces, (c) depositing a precoating of ALD silicon nitride on the halide-free ALD oxide undercoating, and (d) processing a batch of semiconductor substrates by transferring each semiconductor substrate into the reaction chamber and depositing a film of ALD silicon nitride on the semiconductor substrate supported on the ceramic surface of the pedestal.

Method for depositing metals free ald silicon nitride films using halide-based precursors

A highly tensile dielectric layer is generated on a heat sensitive substrate while not exceeding thermal budget constraints. Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is used to produce highly tensile films to be used, for example, in strained NMOS transistor architectures. UV curing of as-deposited PECVD silicon nitride films, for example, has been shown to produce films with stresses of at least 1.65 E10 dynes/cm. Other dielectric capping layer film materials show similar results. In transistor implementations, the stress from a source/drain region capping layer composed of such a film is uniaxially transferred to the NMOS channel through the source-drain regions to create tensile strain in the NMOS channel.

Tensile dielectric films using UV curing

A method for supplying vapor to a chamber includes providing a first diverter valve that, when open, diverts vapor away from the chamber, and a second diverter valve that, when open, supplies the vapor to the chamber; supplying a carrier gas to the chamber; after supplying the carrier gas, creating plasma in the chamber while a substrate is in the chamber; opening the first diverter valve and closing the second diverter valve; supplying the vapor by vaporizing at least one liquid precursor in a carrier gas; after a first predetermined period sufficient for the vapor to reach steady-state flow, closing the first diverter valve and opening the second diverter valve to supply the vapor to the chamber; and after a second predetermined period following the first predetermined period, opening the first diverter valve and closing the second diverter valve to stop supplying the vapor to the chamber.

Method for supplying vaporized precursor

Semiconductor processing chamber showerheads with contoured faceplates, as well as techniques for producing such faceplates, are provided. Data describing deposition rate as a function of gap distance between a reference showerhead faceplate and a reference substrate may be obtained, as well as data describing deposition rate as a function of location on the substrate when the reference showerhead and the reference substrate are in a fixed arrangement with respect to each other. The two data sets may be used to determine offsets from a reference plane associated with the faceplate that determine a contour profile to be used with the faceplate.

Contoured showerhead for improved plasma shaping and control

Provided herein are methods of depositing conformal silicon nitride films using atomic layer deposition by exposure to a halogen-free, N&#x2014;H-bond-free, and carbon-free silicon-containing precursor such as disilane, purging of the precursor, exposure to a nitrogen plasma, and purging of the plasma at low temperatures. A high frequency plasma is used, such as a plasma having a frequency of at least 13.56 MHz or at least 27 MHz. Methods yield substantially pure conformal silicon nitride films suitable for deposition in semiconductor devices, such as in trenches or features, or for memory encapsulation.

Method of depositing ammonia free and chlorine free conformal silicon nitride film

Disclosed herein are methods of depositing a SiN film having a reduced wet etch rate. The methods may include adsorbing a film precursor comprising Si onto a semiconductor substrate in a processing chamber to form an adsorption-limited layer of precursor, and then removing unadsorbed precursor from the volume surrounding the adsorbed precursor. The adsorbed precursor may then be reacted by exposing it to a plasma comprising N-containing ions and/or radicals to form a SiN film layer on the substrate, and the SiN film layer may then be densified by exposing it to a He plasma. The foregoing steps may then be repeated to form another densified SiN film layer on the substrate. Also disclosed herein are apparatuses for depositing SiN films having reduced wet etch rates on semiconductor substrates which employ the foregoing techniques.

Methods and apparatuses for uniform reduction of the in-feature wet etch rate of a silicon nitride film formed by ALD

The embodiments herein focus on plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) processes using pulsed plasmas. While conventional PEALD processes use continuous wave plasmas during the plasma exposure/conversion operation, the embodiments herein utilize a pulsed plasma during this operation to achieve a film with high quality sidewalls. Because conventional PEALD techniques result in films having high quality at the bottom and top of a feature, but low quality on the sidewalls, this increased sidewall quality in the disclosed methods corresponds to a film that is overall more uniform in quality compared to that achieved with conventional continuous wave plasma techniques.

Plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition with pulsed plasma exposure

Growing community of inventors

Tigard, OR, United States of America

James Samuel Sims