Motorola Corporation

John C Arnold

Dean J Denning

Michael J Hartig

Peter Lowell Ventzek

Valli Arunachalam

Matthew E Colburn

Peter L G Ventzek

Stanley Michael Filipiak

Phillip E Crabtree

Sean D Burns

Daniel G Coronell

Yunpeng Yin

A method and an apparatus for forming a layer on a substrate are disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment, a substrate ( ) is placed into a chamber ( ) that includes a coil ( ) and a shield ( ) wherein the coil and the shield are electrically isolated by an isolation/support member ( ) having a first surface ( ) that is substantially contiguous with a surface of the coil and having a second surface ( ) that is substantially contiguous with a surface of the shield. A layer ( ) is then deposited onto the substrate ( ).

Method and apparatus for forming a layer on a substrate

A film is formed over a substrate using a physical vapor deposition method. When using ionized metal plasma physical vapor deposition, the deposition chamber configuration or operating parameters are adjusted to achieve the desired film characteristics. If the film is to be substantially uniform in thickness across a substrate, the deposition species density is made higher at locations away from the center of the substrate.

Process of forming a semiconductor device

A method and an apparatus for forming a layer on a substrate are disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment, a substrate (901) is placed into a chamber (30) that includes a coil (16) and a shield (14) wherein the coil and the shield are electrically isolated by an isolation/support member (32) having a first surface (321) that is substantially contiguous with a surface of the coil and having a second surface (322) that is substantially contiguous with a surface of the shield. A layer (1002, 1102) is then deposited onto the substrate (901).

A inlaid interconnect is formed in a semiconductor device (30). A first interlayer dielectric (ILD) 40 is deposited and etched to form a via opening (44). An etchstop layer (42) is deposited on ILD (40). A second ILD (45) is deposited on etchstop layer (42) in a manner so that a pinch-off region (46) is formed to prevent substantial deposition of the ILD material into via opening (44). While a small deposit (47) of ILD material may form within the via opening, this can be easily removed in a subsequent etch of ILD (45) which forms a trench opening (48) in ILD (45). A metal layer (50) is then deposited and polished to form a metal interconnect having a trench portion (52) and a via portion (54) in device (30). The present invention avoids the need for a substantial over-etch to clear the via, and avoids the need to form a thick resist mask to form the via opening, while maintaining a controlled via diameter.

Method for forming an inlaid via in a semiconductor device

An inductively coupled plasma reactor and method for processing a semiconductor wafer (28). The inductively coupled plasma reactor (10) includes a plasma source (16) having a plurality of channels (38, 44) in which processing gases are independently supplied to each channel. A gas supply system (20) includes a plurality of gas feed lines (34, 35, 36) each capable of supplying an individual flow rate and gas composition to the plurality of channels (38, 44) in the plasma source (16). Each channel is surrounded by an independently powered RF coil (54, 56), such that the plasma density can be varied within each channel (38, 44) of the plasma source (16). In operation, a material layer (66) overlying a semiconductor wafer (28) is either uniformly etched or deposited by localized spatial control of the plasma characteristics at each location (64) across the semiconductor wafer (28).

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Austin, TX, United States of America

John C Arnold