Novellus Systems Incorporated

Lam Research Corporation

International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Tokyo Electron Limited

Jonathan David Reid

Steven T Mayer

Evan E Patton

Seshasayee Varadarajan

Robert J Contolini

Zhian He

Eric G Webb

Tighe A Spurlin

Shantinath Ghongadi

Bryan L Buckalew

John H Sukamto

Thomas Anand Ponnuswamy

Jingbin Feng

Lee J Brogan

Edward C Opocensky

David W Porter

Eliot K Broadbent

Frederick Dean Wilmot

R Marshall Stowell

John Owen Dukovic

Dinesh S Kalakkad

Natalia V Doubina

David Charles Smith

Robert L Jackson

Edmund Minshall

Sesha Varadarajan

Avishai Kepten

Jian Zhou

Bryan Pennington

James E Duncan

Gary B Lind

Jae M Park

Richard S Hill

Kousik Ganesan

Mark J Willey

James R Loomis

Steve Taatjes

Yuichi Takada

Steven W Taatjes

Ludan Huang

Seyang Park

Johanes H Sukamto

Huanfeng Zhu

Matthew A Rigsby

Katie Qun Wang

Michal Danek

Richard Hsiao

John Stephen Drewery

Jon Henri

Charles Robert Davis

Andrew John McKerrow

Jeffrey Alan Hawkins

Manish Ranjan

Tariq Majid

Timothy Mark Archer

Clifford Raymond Berry

Vijay Bhaskaran

Robert T Rozbicki

Sridhar Karthik Kailasam

Panayotis Constantinou Andricacos

Robert Rash

Bernd Karl Appelt

George Andrew Antonelli

Erich R Klawuhn

Juwen Gao

Haiying Fu

Karl B Levy

Ronald Allan Powell

Erick G Walton

Matthew S Thorum

Patrick G Breiling

Frank M Cerio, Jr

Peter Stevens Locke

Perminder S Bindra

William J Summa

Kim Joseph Blackwell

Henner Meinhold

Shigeru Mizuno

Ashit A Mehta

Robert Daniel Edwards

Aaron R Fellis

Ismail Emesh

James Edward Fluegel

Cian Sweeney

Mukul Khosla

Robert Marshall Stowell

Frederick R Christie

Mark L Rea

Tom Mountsier

William H Lawrence

Quan Ma

Brian Paul Blackman

Timothy Patrick Cleary

Jeff Hawkins

Heung L Park

William E Corbin, Jr

Charles Lorenzo Merrill

Timothy Lee Sharp

James R White

Eugene P Skarvinko

Void-free bottom-up fill of copper in features is achieved on non-copper liner layers. A non-copper liner layer has a higher resistivity than copper. An electroplating solution for plating copper on a non-copper liner layer includes a low copper concentration, high pH, organic additives, and bromide ions as a copper complexing agent. The high pH and the bromide ions do not interfere with the activity of the organic additives. In some implementations, the concentration of copper ions is between about 0.2 g/L and about 10 g/L, a concentration of sulfuric acid is between about 0.1 g/L and about 10 g/L, and a concentration of the bromide ions is between about 20 mg/L and about 240 mg/L. In some implementations, the electroplating solution further includes chloride ions as an additional copper complexing agent at a concentration between about 0.1 mg/L and about 100 mg/L.

Copper electrofill on non-copper liner layers

An example electroplating method comprises feeding fresh electrolyte solution into a bath reservoir via a first inlet of the bath reservoir, and bleeding used electrolyte solution out of the bath reservoir via first outlet of the bath reservoir. Recycled electrolyte solution is received into the bath reservoir via a second inlet of the bath reservoir, and electrolyte solution is discharged from the bath reservoir via a second outlet of the bath reservoir. By-products generated by a plating cell are extracted using an extraction column. A first particle filter is disposed in a fluid pathway between the second outlet of the bath reservoir and the inlet of the plating cell, and a second particle filter is disposed in a fluid pathway between the outlet of the extraction column and the second inlet of the bath reservoir. Flow control means are disposed between the plating cell and the bath reservoir and selectively return a portion of the electrolyte solution to the bath reservoir without passing the returned portion through the first or second filter.

Removal of electroplating bath additives

Methods and apparatus for determining whether a substrate includes an unacceptably high amount of oxide on its surface are described. The substrate is typically a substrate that is to be electroplated. The determination may be made directly in an electroplating apparatus, during an initial portion of an electroplating process. The determination may involve immersing the substrate in electrolyte with a particular applied voltage or applied current provided during or soon after immersion, and recording a current response or voltage response over this same timeframe. The applied current or applied voltage may be zero or non-zero. By comparing the current response or voltage response to a threshold current, threshold voltage, or threshold time, it can be determined whether the substrate included an unacceptably high amount of oxide on its surface. The threshold current, threshold voltage, and/or threshold time may be selected based on a calibration procedure.

Monitoring surface oxide on seed layers during electroplating

Embodiments herein relate to methods, apparatus, and systems for electroplating metal into recessed features using a superconformal fill mechanism that provides relatively faster plating within a feature and relatively slower plating in the field region. Moreover, within the feature, plating occurs faster toward the bottom of the feature compared to the top of the feature. The result is that the feature is filled with metal from the bottom upwards, resulting in a high quality fill without the formation of seams or voids, defects that are likely where a conformal fill mechanism is used. The superconformal fill mechanism relies on the presence of a sacrificial oxidant molecule that is used to develop a differential current efficiency within the feature compared to the field region. Various plating conditions are balanced against one another to ensure that the feature fills from the bottom upwards. No organic plating additives are necessary, though plating additives can be used to improve the process.

Process for optimizing cobalt electrofill using sacrificial oxidants

In one aspect, an apparatus includes a plating cell, a degassing device configured to remove oxygen from the plating solution prior to the plating solution flowing into the plating cell; an oxidation station configured to increase an oxidizing strength of the plating solution after the plating solution flows out of the plating cell; and a controller. The controller includes program instructions for causing a process that includes operations of: reducing an oxygen concentration of the plating solution where the plating solution contains a plating accelerator; then, contacting a wafer substrate with the plating solution having reduced oxygen concentration and electroplating a metal such that the electroplating causes a net conversion of the accelerator to a less-oxidized accelerator species within the plating cell; then increasing the oxidizing strength of the plating solution causing a net re-conversion of the less-oxidized accelerator species back to the accelerator outside the plating cell.

Configuration and method of operation of an electrodeposition system for improved process stability and performance

In one example, an electroplating system comprising a bath reservoir having a first inlet for feeding fresh electrolyte solution into the bath reservoir and a first outlet for bleeding used electrolyte solution out of the bath reservoir, a second inlet for receiving recycled electrolyte solution into the bath reservoir, and a second outlet for discharge of electrolyte solution from the bath reservoir. A plating cell is providing for electroplating an object, the plating cell has an inlet in direct or indirect fluid communication with the bath reservoir, and an outlet for discharge of electrolyte solution from the plating cell. An extraction column extracts by-products generated by the plating cell and has an inlet in direct or indirect fluid communication with the outlet of the plating cell, and an outlet for discharge of electrolyte solution from the extraction column. A first particle filter is disposed in a fluid pathway between the second outlet of the bath reservoir and the inlet of the plating cell, and a second particle filter is disposed in a fluid pathway between the outlet of the extraction column and the second inlet of the bath reservoir.

An electroplating apparatus for filling recessed features on a semiconductor substrate includes a vessel configured to maintain a concentrated electroplating solution at a temperature of at least about 40&#xb0; C., wherein the solution would have formed a precipitate at 20&#xb0; C. This vessel is in fluidic communication with an electroplating cell configured for bringing the concentrated electrolyte in contact with the semiconductor substrate at a temperature of at least about 40&#xb0; C., or the vessel is the electroplating cell. In order to prevent precipitation of metal salts from the electrolyte, the apparatus further includes a controller having program instructions for adding a diluent to the concentrated electroplating solution in the vessel to avoid precipitation of a salt from the concentrated electroplating solution in response to a signal indicating that the electrolyte is at risk of precipitation.

Electrolyte concentration control system for high rate electroplating

Various embodiments herein relate to methods and apparatus for electroplating metal on a substrate. In many cases, an electroplating process may be monitored to ensure that it is operating within a pre-defined processing window. This monitoring may involve application of a controlled potential between the substrate and a reference electrode after the electroplating process is substantially complete (e.g., after recessed features on the substrate are substantially filled). The current delivered to the substrate during application of the controlled potential is monitored, and a peak current is determined. This peak current, often referred to herein as the potential-controlled exit peak current, can be compared against an expected range to determine whether the electroplating process is operating as desired.

Gap fill process stability monitoring of an electroplating process using a potential-controlled exit step

Methods, systems, and apparatus for plating a metal onto a work piece are described. In one aspect, an apparatus includes a plating chamber, a substrate holder, an anode chamber housing an anode, an ionically resistive ionically permeable element positioned between a substrate and the anode chamber during electroplating, an auxiliary cathode located between the anode and the ionically resistive ionically permeable element, and an insulating shield with an opening in its central region. The insulating shield may be movable with respect to the ionically resistive ionically permeable element to vary a distance between the shield and the ionically resistive ionically permeable element during electroplating.

Dynamic current distribution control apparatus and method for wafer electroplating

Methods, apparatus, and systems for depositing copper and other metals are provided. In some implementations, a wafer substrate is provided to an apparatus. The wafer substrate has a surface with field regions and a feature. A copper layer is plated onto the surface of the wafer substrate. The copper layer is annealed to redistribute copper from regions of the wafer substrate to the feature. Implementations of the disclosed methods, apparatus, and systems allow for void-free bottom-up fill of features in a wafer substrate.

Method and apparatus for filling interconnect structures

Method and apparatus for reducing metal oxide surfaces to modified metal surfaces are disclosed. By exposing a metal oxide surface to a remote plasma, the metal oxide surface on a substrate can be reduced to pure metal and the metal reflowed. A remote plasma apparatus can treat the metal oxide surface as well as cool, load/unload, and move the substrate within a single standalone apparatus. The remote plasma apparatus includes a processing chamber and a controller configured to provide a substrate having a metal seed layer in a processing chamber, form a remote plasma of a reducing gas species where the remote plasma includes radicals, ions, and/or ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the reducing gas species, and expose a metal seed layer of the substrate to the remote plasma to reduce oxide of the metal seed layer to metal and to reflow the metal.

Method and apparatus for remote plasma treatment for reducing metal oxides on a metal seed layer

Methods, systems, and apparatus for plating a metal onto a work piece with a plating solution having a low oxygen concentration are described. In one aspect, a method includes reducing an oxygen concentration of a plating solution. The plating solution includes about 100 parts per million or less of an accelerator. After reducing the oxygen concentration of the plating solution, a wafer substrate is contacted with the plating solution in a plating cell. The oxygen concentration of the plating solution in the plating cell is about 1 part per million or less. A metal is electroplated with the plating solution onto the wafer substrate in the plating cell. After electroplating the metal onto the wafer substrate, an oxidizing strength of the plating solution is increased.

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Sherwood, OR, United States of America

Jonathan David Reid