Applied Materials, Inc.

Jingmei Liang

Nitin K Ingle

Praket Prakash Jha

Jung Chan Lee

Shankar Venkataraman

Martin Jay Seamons

Jinrui Guo

Yong Sun

Mukund Srinivasan

Xiaolin C Chen

DongQing Li

Sukwon Hong

Abhijit Basu Mallick

Kiran V Thadani

Shuchi Sunil Ojha

Mehul B Naik

He Ren

Tza-Jing Gung

Naomi Yoshida

Mei-Yee Shek

Nikolaos Bekiaris

Anjana M Patel

Shi You

Wenhui Li

Mark Joseph Saly

Shashank Sharma

Li Zhang

Abhilash J Mayur

Karthik Janakiraman

Rui Cheng

Wolfgang R Aderhold

Jay D Pinson, Ii

Abhishek Dube

Young Seen Lee

Benjamin Colombeau

Timothy J Miller

Suketu Arun Parikh

Matthew L Miller

Toan Q Tran

Sanjay S Natarajan

Lakmal Charidu Kalutarage

Nagarajan Rajagopalan

Krishna Nittala

Michael Wenyoung Tsiang

Sanjay G Kamath

Kyu-Ha Shim

Hiroshi Hamana

Jessica Sevanne Kachian

Daemian Raj

Jun Seok Lee

Myungsun Kim

Michael Anthony Stolfi

Brian Saxton Underwood

Deven Matthew Raj Mittal

Amit Chatterjee

Lili Ji

Ying Ma

Yizhen Zhang

Sungho Jo

Byung Kook Ahn

Mun Kyu Park

Euhngi Lee

Tom S Choi

A substrate processing method includes creating a mask on a top surface of a workpiece. A first portion of a gap fill material is overlaid by the mask and a second portion of the gap fill material is exposed through an opening in the mask. The method further includes exposing the workpiece to a plasma. The method further includes performing a first etching of the first portion of the gap fill material to create a first cavity while the second portion of the gap fill material remains in place, depositing a first metal-containing substance in the first cavity, performing a second etching of the second portion of the gap fill material to create a second cavity while the first metal-containing substance remains in place, and depositing a second metal-containing substance in the second cavity.

Multi color stack for self aligned dual pattern formation for multi purpose device structures

Provided are methods of depositing a film in high aspect ratio (AR) structures with small dimensions. The method provides flowable deposition for seamless gap-fill, film densification by low temperature inductively coupled plasma (ICP) treatment (<600° C.), optional film curing, and etch back to form a low-k dielectric film having a dielectric constant, k-value less than 3.

Integrated flowable low-k gap-fill and plasma treatment

A method of post-treating a silicon nitride (SiN)-based dielectric film formed on a surface of a substrate includes positioning a substrate having a silicon nitride (SiN)-based dielectric film formed thereon in a processing chamber, and exposing the silicon nitride (SiN)-based dielectric film to helium-containing high-energy low-dose plasma in the processing chamber. Energy of helium ions in the helium-containing high-energy low-dose plasma is between 1 eV and 3.01 eV, and flux density of the helium ions in the helium-containing high-energy low-dose plasma is between 5×10ions/cm·sec and 1.37×10ions/cm·sec.

Methods of post treating silicon nitride based dielectric films with high energy low dose plasma

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to methods for gap fill deposition and film densification on microelectronic devices. The method includes forming an oxide layer containing silicon oxide and having an initial wet etch rate (WER) over features disposed on the substrate, and exposing the oxide layer to a first plasma treatment to produce a treated oxide layer. The first plasma treatment includes generating a first plasma by a first RF source and directing the first plasma to the oxide layer by a DC bias. The method also includes exposing the treated oxide layer to a second plasma treatment to produce a densified oxide layer. The second plasma treatment includes generating a second plasma by top and side RF sources and directing the second plasma to the treated oxide layer without a bias. The densified oxide layer has a final WER of less than one-half of the initial WER.

Plasma treatment process to densify oxide layers

Embodiments herein provide for oxygen based treatment of low-k dielectric layers deposited using a flowable chemical vapor deposition (FCVD) process. Oxygen based treatment of the FCVD deposited low-k dielectric layers desirably increases the Ebd to capacitance and reliability of the devices while removing voids. Embodiments include methods and apparatus for making a semiconductor device including: etching a metal layer disposed atop a substrate to form one or more metal lines having a top surface, a first side, and a second side; depositing a passivation layer atop the top surface, the first side, and the second side under conditions sufficient to reduce or eliminate oxygen contact with the one or more metal lines; depositing a flowable layer of low-k dielectric material atop the passivation layer in a thickness sufficient to cover the one or more metal lines; and contacting the flowable layer of low-k dielectric material with oxygen under conditions sufficient to anneal and increase a density of the low-k dielectric material.

Method of dielectric material fill and treatment

Exemplary methods of forming a semiconductor structure may include forming a first silicon oxide layer overlying a semiconductor substrate. The methods may include forming a first silicon layer overlying the first silicon oxide layer. The methods may include forming a silicon nitride layer overlying the first silicon layer. The methods may include forming a second silicon layer overlying the silicon nitride layer. The methods may include forming a second silicon oxide layer overlying the second silicon layer. The methods may include removing the silicon nitride layer. The methods may include removing the first silicon layer and the second silicon layer. The methods may include forming a metal layer between and contacting each of the first silicon oxide layer and the second silicon oxide layer.

3D NAND gate stack reinforcement

A method of depositing a silicon-containing material is disclosed. Some embodiments of the disclosure provide films which fill narrow CD features without a seam or void. Some embodiments of the disclosure provide films which form conformally on features with wider CD. Embodiments of the disclosure also provide superior quality films with low roughness, low defects and advantageously low deposition rates.

CD dependent gap fill and conformal films

A method of post-treating a dielectric film formed on a surface of a substrate includes positioning a substrate having a dielectric film formed thereon in a processing chamber and exposing the dielectric film to microwave radiation in the processing chamber at a frequency between 5 GHz and 7 GHz.

Methods of post treating dielectric films with microwave radiation

Methods for forming a smooth ultra-thin flowable CVD film by using a surface treatment on a substrate surface before flowable CVD film deposition improves the uniformity and overall film smoothness. The flowable CVD film can be cured by any suitable curing process to form a smooth flowable CVD film.

Surface roughness for flowable CVD film

Aspects of the disclosure provide a method including depositing an underlayer comprising silicon oxide over a substrate, depositing a polysilicon liner on the underlayer, and depositing an amorphous silicon layer on the polysilicon liner. Aspects of the disclosure provide a device intermediate including a substrate, an underlayer comprising silicon oxide formed over the substrate, a polysilicon liner disposed on the underlayer, and an amorphous silicon layer disposed on the polysilicon liner.

Polysilicon liners

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to cluster tools for forming and filling trenches in a substrate with a flowable dielectric material. In one or more embodiments, a cluster tool for processing a substrate contains a load lock chamber, a first vacuum transfer chamber coupled to the load lock chamber, a second vacuum transfer chamber, a cooling station disposed between the first vacuum transfer chamber and the second vacuum transfer chamber, a factory interface coupled to the load lock chamber, a plurality of first processing chambers coupled to the first vacuum transfer chamber, wherein each of the first processing chambers is a deposition chamber capable of performing a flowable layer deposition, and a plurality of second processing chambers coupled to the second vacuum transfer chamber, wherein each of the second processing chambers is a plasma chamber capable of performing a plasma curing process.

Cyclic flowable deposition and high-density plasma treatment processes for high quality gap fill solutions

Embodiments described herein generally related to methods for forming a flowable low-k dielectric layer over a trench formed on a surface of a patterned substrate. The methods include delivering a silicon and carbon containing precursor into a substrate processing region of a substrate processing chamber for a first period of time and a second period of time, flowing an oxygen-containing precursor into a remote plasma region of a plasma source while igniting a remote plasma to form a radical-oxygen precursor, flowing the radical-oxygen precursor into the substrate processing region at a second flow rate after the first period of time has elapsed and during the second period of time, and exposing the silicon and carbon containing dielectric precursor to electromagnetic radiation for a third period of time after the second period of time has elapsed.

Oxidation reduction for SiOC film

Embodiments described and discussed herein provide methods for depositing silicon nitride materials by vapor deposition, such as by flowable chemical vapor deposition (FCVD), as well as for utilizing new silicon-nitrogen precursors for such deposition processes. The silicon nitride materials are deposited on substrates for gap fill applications, such as filling trenches formed in the substrate surfaces. In one or more embodiments, the method for depositing a silicon nitride film includes introducing one or more silicon-nitrogen precursors and one or more plasma-activated co-reactants into a processing chamber, producing a plasma within the processing chamber, and reacting the silicon-nitrogen precursor and the plasma-activated co-reactant in the plasma to produce a flowable silicon nitride material on a substrate within the processing chamber. The method also includes treating the flowable silicon nitride material to produce a solid silicon nitride material on the substrate.

Methods for depositing silicon nitride

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Jingmei Liang